Powell played under Gary Attell at Aptos Junior High School, where he honed his skills as a center fielder. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco Giants in February 1983. He made his major league debut on April 6, 1987, with the Montreal Expos. In 1987, Powell played 14 games, had 8 hits and 4 RBI. In 1991, he played for the Seattle Mariners. He had 24 hits in 111 at-bats (a .216 batting average), 3 home runs, his major league career, Powell played for seven seasons in Japan. He was just the third player in Central League history, and the first foreign player, to win three straight batting titles, hitting .324, .355, and .340 from 1994 to 1996.He was also a two-time Central League All-Star.Powell served as the hitting coach of the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts from 2002-2003 and the manager of the Single-A Dayton Dragons from 2004-2005. In 2006, he was the Seattle Mariners minor league hitting instructor. For 2007, he was named the hitting coach for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in the Mariners' organization.
