Three Boogs become fast pals

BALTIMORE -- The A's Boog Powell was a ball of excitement as he hopped off a golf cart and shook the hand of the other Boog Powell for the first time on Tuesday afternoon.
"Hey, it's Boog Powell!" his namesake exclaimed.
"You're Boog Powell!" the A's player replied.
A strong sun hovered over them, as pleasantries -- and barbecue, courtesy of long-standing Boog's BBQ -- were exchanged on Eutaw Street, the meeting of the Boogs at last a reality.
The elder Boog, who suited up for the Orioles for 14 seasons, has been out of the game since 1977. Sixteen years later, Herschel Mack Powell was born and, by age 5, he, too, had taken on "Boog" as a nickname, his father having drawn inspiration from the Baltimore slugger.
"I'm honored that you've been carrying my name for all these years," the original Boog told him. "I've kind of wondered why, but it's fun kind of explaining Boog to somebody. It doesn't go away. It doesn't get any better. So I've been doing it for my whole life, and I just turned 76 the other day, so, anyway, it's not so bad. It kind of sets you apart."
Less than 24 hours prior, the A's Powell smashed his first career home run. Naturally, it landed right in front of the other Powell's BBQ stand in right field.

"That made it all the more special, to hit it out to him," said Powell, in between bites of a barbecued pork sandwich.
"I think his timing for his home run yesterday was pretty good," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "You see a lot of cool things, unique things, in this game, and some things surprise you, some don't, but that was a little bit of a surprise yesterday, that being his first home run yesterday and hitting it in the direction that he did. I'm sure he had a lot of fun with it today."
A third Powell entered the mix courtesy of FaceTime, with 12-year-old Little League World Series participant Jeffery "Boog" Powell taking a break from study hall to chat with them.
"He was a little shy," the A's Powell said, "but it was good to meet him. And that was the first time big Boog's ever FaceTimed."

The Little Leaguer has likely fielded the same question that Oakland's Powell has heard his whole life.
"Throughout the Minor Leagues," he said, "all the fans came up to me asking, 'Have you met the real Boog Powell?' And I'd say, 'Hey, I'm real, too.'"
"Everybody says, is that your grandson playing down there?" the Orioles' Powell said. "And I say, well, no, but I kind of wish he was."