Nationality American First appearance Pilot TV show Eastbound & Down | Last appearance Chapter 29 | |
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Nickname(s) The People's Champion, The Shelby Sensation, The Reverse Apache Master, The Man with the Golden Dick, Doctor Cock & Balls, Kenny "Fucking" Powers, La Flama Blanca, The Bulletproof Tiger, The Team Leader Occupation Professional baseball pitcher Similar Stevie Janowski, Ashley Schaeffer, Glass family, Fred Simmons, Kenny McCormick | ||
Kenny Powers is a fictional main character in the HBO television series Eastbound & Down, played by Danny McBride. He is portrayed as a once dominant baseball pitcher, whose poor work ethic, ego, and short temper jeopardized his professional career. In season one, Powers becomes a substitute physical education teacher who is attempting to make a return to Major League Baseball. His name was inspired by a real life American automotive stuntman in the 1970s of the same name.
Contents
Character biography
Powers enjoys a spectacular debut, but his abrasive personality leads him to be constantly traded as he wears out his welcome quickly. He tries to make up for this by using steroids but in less than seven years he finds himself out of Major League Baseball completely. He goes back to his hometown of Shelby, North Carolina, to accept a job as a substitute physical education teacher at his former middle school and tries to get back into the majors.
After going down to Mexico and playing in an independent league, Kenny gets signed to the Myrtle Beach Mermen, the minor league affiliate of the Texas baseball organization. Eventually he is called up to pitch in the majors again. But Powers fakes his own death believing it is the only way to win his true love's heart.
Years after Kenny fakes his death (which he was arrested for) he lives in the suburbia with his wife and two children as an employee of a car rental company. Upon meeting an old sports colleague, Kenny, who is fed up with his boring life, quits his job and gets his friend to offer him a guest spot on his show The Sports Sesh. After an embarrassing first appearance, Kenny trains to be better and verbally knocks the current wild card football star of the show until he quits, and Kenny received thunderous applause.
Merchandise
HBO introduced officially licensed Eastbound & Down T-shirts featuring quotes from the show as well as shirts based on Kenny Powers' Atlanta and Charros jersey. In summer 2011 it was announced that an officially licensed Kenny Powers costume would be produced for Halloween.
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In 2011, K-Swiss began an ad campaign featuring Kenny Powers as the new CEO of K-Swiss. The campaign focuses on the new Tubes line of K-Swiss shoes.