Killer

If ever there was an incongruous nickname, this was it.

 

Legendary broadcaster Bob Wolff, the voice of the Washington Senators, nicknamed a fresh-faced slugger named Harmon Killebrew, "Killer."

 

His persona was anything but, a kind, sweet, soft-spoken, self-effacing man who never boasted of his accomplishments and one of the nicest people I have ever met in the game.

 

Harmon Killebrew's personality belied his achievement on the field as, arguably, the most popular player in Minnesota Twins history: 573 home runs (he didn't need the wind blowing out), currently 8th on the all-time list, and 5th at the time of his retirement.

 

He told me on this wonderful show I hosted called "Ed Randall's Talking Baseball" that a sitting United States Senator from his native Idaho was influential in his signing. Turns out the Senator was friends with Clark Griffith, the Owner of the Washington Senators and told him of a young slugger that he needed to sign.

 

Killebrew became a 'bonus baby' and took his first at-bat in the major leagues in 1954 at age 17. It would be 1959 before he had his first full season. Two years later, the Washington Senators were now the Minnesota Twins and Harmon Killebrew, across the 1960s would become the face, heart and soul of the franchise.

 

He personified power, the first to clear the roof at old Tiger Stadium in Detroit and, as Casey Stengel once said about another prodigy, Ron Swoboda, "could hit home runs over tall buildings."

 

Eight times, Harmon Killebrew struck 40 or more home runs, a record surpassed only by Babe Ruth.

   

He made 11 All-Star teams and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1984. His statue rests outside Target Field in Minneapolis.

 

Harmon Killebrew was a great baseball player.

 

He was a better man.