Powell’s book encourages fathers to accept their role

Published 8:48 am Tuesday, July 23, 2024

“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6

MOULTRIE — In a May 31 post on his Facebook page, Dennis Powell wrote, “When we first start out on the road to adulthood, many of us are not prepared for what we are about to encounter. Having Christ, character and learning to adapt will take us higher and higher in life.”

The former Norman Park resident and Colquitt County High and Major League baseball player turned that belief and the verse from Proverbs into the focus of a book he released earlier this year titled “Standing Over Home: A Man’s Playbook to Heal Relationships Between Fathers and Sons.”

Many in Colquitt County might remember Powell for his major league baseball career pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers and his 2001 induction into the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame.

And also perhaps for losing three brothers and a nephew within a year in two tragic car wrecks.

Powell shares his fraught journey from growing up in a family without a strong patriarchal presence to becoming a professional athlete, a motivational speaker, a loving husband and father of four children, including three sons.

His faith has been the cornerstone of his growth and has been the impetus for him to share his story with the hope that other fathers will be encouraged to accept their important role within their families.

“Writing this book was great therapy for me,” Powell said recently from his home in Upland, Calif., where he serves as an instructor for young pitchers, gives motivational speeches and does community outreach for the Dodgers, often wearing his No. 48 jersey.

“To see what God has done is amazing.”

He cites statistics from the 2020 U.S. Census that show 18.3 million children were being raised in fatherless homes.

And while his own father Bennie Powell lived in the family home, he often worked out of town during the week and when he was home, he was not as often attuned to the needs of his sons as he should have been.

“There were things that if they had been taught to us when were growing up might have led us to go in another direction,” he said.

Powell said in many homes, like his own, his mother was left to do the father’s job.

When he was 16, Powell stole some money from a nearby business and was arrested.

He was taken to Norman Park City Hall, transferred to another car and taken to the Albany Detention Center.

After several days, he was released.

He says he does not blame his father for his failures as a teen and young adult.

“At the end of the day, the choice to do wrong was my own,” he writes.

But, he adds, “Fathers, we must stop blaming ignorance, work, our past and significant others for our shortcomings.

“I will be the first to tell you that letting your sons learn as they go is a mistaken strategy you don’t want to make. I was 30 years of age when I heard a pastor declare that ‘Experience is not the best teacher. Someone else’s experience is the best teacher.’”

Powell writes that his father never watched him play baseball as a youngster. In fact, the first time Bennie saw his talented son pitch was when he went to Atlanta and saw Dennis perform for the Dodgers against the Braves.

“When I was younger, I never saw him at the fields, there at the fence watching me, clapping,” he said.

Dennis had found baseball as an outlet after a chance encounter with Larry Spires led him to play for the Norman Park recreation teams coached by the Spires brothers, Larry and Harry.

He went on to become an outstanding left-handed pitcher for Colquitt County High School and as a member of the semi-professional Albany Hawks, went 21-0 over two seasons.

Powell then caught the eye of Los Angeles Dodgers scout Tommy Mixon, who signed him to a professional contract in May 1983.

The signing took place in the Norman Park City Hall where he had been taken four years earlier after being arrested.

Two years later, Powell was pitching in the Major Leagues.

He got his first Major League win and a save in that series against the Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

He went 11-22 with three saves in 207 major league appearances.

His long professional career also included stints in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and Japan.

While he was away, often for months at a time, his wife Brenda had to take on the role as head of the household.

Powell said he recalls his 5-year-old daughter innocently asking his wife Brenda, “Is daddy going to spend the night?”

Powell said his maturation process also included dealing with the deaths of his three brothers.

Calvin Powell, 27, and his 2-year-old son Dominic died April 2, 1989, in a car wreck.

Brother Bennie Lee was incarcerated at the time and attended the funeral accompanied by a Georgia State Prison officer.

Some eight months later, Bennie Lee, 34, and brother Jimmy 33, were killed when their car slammed into a van as it pulled out on U.S. 319 near Crosland.

Dennis and wife Brenda had been married just 43 days when Bennie Lee and Jimmy died.

The deaths took a toll on Powell, who was still pitching in the Major Leagues at the time. His wife and his growing faith helped him though the dark time.

As they built their marriage, the Powells faced another challenge of faith when their first child, daughter Bree, died at 3 months.

“But God was not done with me yet,” Powell writes.

Becoming the Christian and the father he wanted to be was a process and took time, he said.

“Different temptations awaited me at each new level I achieved,” he writes. “God mercifully positioned people along the way somehow to help me find my way.”

He and Brenda, now married 34 years, have been longtime active members of Abundant Living Church in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

For a number of years, they had a podcast for adult couples, titled “Cuddle Up.”

“We want to be what God called us to be,” he said.

After Bree’s death, he and Brenda went on to have three more children.

Christopher Powell was drafted by the Dodgers in 2015 three days before he graduated from Cal State Polytechnic University-Pomona.

Like his father, he was a pitcher. Unlike his father, he is a right-hander. He went on to become a rookie league pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins.

Daughter Evan earned her master’s degree and is a social worker.

Youngest son Bryce is a senior playing baseball in college.

Powell also has an older son Dennis Powell Jr. who works in the pharmaceutical industry. He has been married for 12 years and has three children.

Powell said he neglected his obligation to his son for many years, but has rebuilt the relationship and they have reconciled.

“To see and know that he is succeeding despite my negligence shows just how much God loves him and so do I,” he writes.

Powell grew closer over the years to his father, who became an ordained deacon in his church before he died in 2004.

“Most men will never get the opportunity to play in the major leagues, but they will get a chance to shine in the role of fatherhood,” he writes.

“Standing Over Home: A Man’s Playbook to Heal Relationships Between Fathers and Sons” is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores