Just a note to say thank you

And I guess tell those who never watched you play a little of what they missed.

Harmon Killebrew announced yesterday that he was ending aggressive cancer treatment and moving to Hospice. When I was a kid Killebrew defined the term power hitter. He was a big man, huge by baseball standards at the time and he hit home runs that proved it. On August 3, 1962 he hit towering home run over the left field roof and out of Tiger Stadium, the first man ever to do that.  Only three other men ever reached that roof – Frank Howard, Cecil Fielder, and Mark McGwire. Killebrew cleared it.

On May 24, 1964, Harmon hit the longest measured homer at Baltimore Memorial Stadium, 471 feet to deep left center. Frank Robinson hit one out of Memroial Stadium in 1966 but it was only a 451 foot shot. On June 3, 1967, Killebrew hit a 520-foot home run – the longest measured home run ever hit – at the Twins’ Metropolitan Stadium and the longest in Twins history. The new Target Field has a statue of a Gold Glove outside of Gate 34 and it is exactly 520 feet from Target Field’s home plate.

Killebrew, who never drank and was never thrown out of a game, was the man many thought would catch Ruth. He had 380 homers when the 67 season ended and was only 31 years old. That wasn’t to be however. He pulled a hamstring in the 1968 All Star game and missed the rest of the season costing him a lot of chances. He had a torrid 1969 – 49 homers, 140 RBI ALMVP –  and 1970 (41 homers, 113 RBI) season but never again reached the 40 homer mark. Killebrew retired in 1975 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984. The numbers alone say it should have been sooner.

In 1998, Harmon and his wife Nita founded the Harmon Killebrew Foundation, Ltd. dedicated to promoting positive and healthful participation in sports, especially the game he loved; baseball.

Thanks for the memories Harmon. It was a pleasure to watch you play the game.