Powell was undrafted and unrecruited out of Colquitt County High School and, after graduating, got a job on an ice truck to help support his mother and three brothers while playing semi-pro baseball in Albany, Georgia. It was not until his second season that he attracted the attention of scouts and was given a signing bonus of $3,000 to join the Los Angeles Dodgers (equivalent to $8,800 in 2022); he had been making $150 per week on the ice truck (equivalent to $441 in 2022).
He played in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, and Milwaukee Brewers, in all or parts of eight seasons (1985–1993). Powell also played one season for the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1995.
One of Powell's brothers and a nephew died in a car accident in April 1989 in Georgia and two more of his brothers died in a car accident only a few months later in January 1990 on U.S. Route 319 in Georgia.

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