Harmon Killebrew

A Story by 46forum

A man who never got the recognition he deserved, who died with dignity and grace.

A legend is passing here in 2011. A legend with status of a baseball god is on his way to a new venture. Sadly, esophageal cancer is taking him from us. In a few days, he will be gone from this earth and all we will have are memories (many from our fathers and grandfathers), old video clips and interviews from countless media. Not that any of those are not great means to remember him by, but the man who is leaving us will be missed.
            Here at harmandkillahbrew.weebly.com, we cover the Milwaukee Brewers. The question has many times been asked; why name it after a man who was never a Brewer? The answer to this question is actually very simple. There are two distinct traits of the Brewers and Killebrew share. Neither are huge. Killebrew stood at 5’11”, and Milwaukee is a nice size place, but still has a home feel to it. Both were and are the model of work ethic that others should follow. For these two reasons, we took the name of harmandkillahbrew.weebly.com. If you really want to know the third, reason is the Killah Brew is a great play on words, though this is insignificant in the core value of what we were trying to accomplish.
            As previously stated, Killebrew stood at an average man’s height of 5’11”. His statistics though were nowhere near average. Take his 1969 MVP season into consideration. And before sharing numbers of stats, look at who his competition was. Brooks Robinson, who is the greatest third baseman of all time was in his prime. Carl Yastremski, Rod Carew, Denny McLain, Jim Fergosi, and Reggie Jackson headed up the AL All Star team that year. The National League was boasting players like; Willie McCovey, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, Ernie Banks, Juan Marichal, Pete Rose, Roberto Clemente, Ron Santo, and Hank Aaron. Aaron once said that Killebrew was the hardest working man in the “Biggs”. He may have been right. The reason for this list is to put a picture of the amazing talent that was in the game in the summer of ’69. It is in this era that we have dubbed it, the “Golden Age of Baseball.” Killebrew was the star of stars in that time.
            In the 1969 MVP campaign, Killebrew was magnificent. He hit .276 and that number does not tell the half of it. 49 Homeruns, 140 RBI’s 84 strikeouts. An On Base Percentage of .427 and 145 walks. In recent years we have seen numbers similar. Barry Bonds comes to mind when I see these statistics. In 1969, there were no steroids. The no steroids comment is not a jab at The Home Run King. It is just a fact of the way the game was played at the time. I personally, have never seen in person, a better player than Barry Bonds. He was amazing. Amazing was Harmon Killebrew as well. 573 homeruns in ballparks that averages 33% more field than today’s parks, is an number hard to fathom. In his 22 year career, Killebrew played less than 100 games 6 times. 5 of those times were his first in the Major Leagues. The 6th occurrence was in 1973 when his body was in decline.
            The NBA’s logo is a silhouette of Jerry West, who is a former Lakers guard. Who though is the MLB logo? Though never confirmed, it is often said that the silhouette is that of one Harmon Killebrew. “You know, I was in the commissioner’s office when the mock-up logo was being done,” Killebrew once told Arizona Republic columnist, Dan Bickley. “But for some reason, they won’t admit it’s me. It’s an interesting thing, and I don’t know why.” Former Red Sox great Ted Williams has also claimed that the logo is in his likeness. We will never really know, unless MLB officials one day release the truth, but that is not likely. This is a great debate, open to speculation and it gives a mystique to the legend we do not know.
            Legends of power are a trademark story for fathers and sons at the ball park. For my family, the legends we saw were Vlad Guerrero, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Andre Dawson. In the Minnesota area, they have Kirby Puckett, and Harmon Killebrew. At the old Metropolitan Stadium, he once hit a ball 520 feet. The Mall of America stands there today, and has that ball affixed inside a wall for people to see. He once hit a ball over the left field wall at old Tiger Stadium. That ball flew an estimated 580 feet, but was never confirmed as an official number.
            “Well, I’ve known Harmon long before I went in the Hall of Fame. I knew him as a player. I’ll tell you this much, if there is anybody that youngsters would like to look up to; it would be a guy like Harmon Killebrew. He had class, he had dignity, he had character. You never heard anything bad said about him. He was a classic.” �"Former LA Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda on Harmon Killebrew.
            Killebrew’s statement to the press to say good bye was as classic and as strong as I have ever read. Said Killebrew of his condition, “I am very comfortable taking this next step and experiencing the compassionate care that hospice provides. I look forward to spending my final days in comfort and peace with Nita by my side.” Nita is his wife. She will continue to run the Harmon Killebrew Foundation. The organization is aimed to find cures for cancer and provide medical assistance to those who cannot afford it.
            When I was a child, my grandfather was my baseball coach. He taught me how to keep my lead shoulder in and how to keep soft hands as the bat cruised through the strike zone. I am his name sake like my father before me. I chose to wear the number 3. My grandfather must have known it was a tribute to him. My grandfather though, would tell people that it was just me getting ready to be the next Harmon Killebrew. As a child, it hurt my feelings that he would not admit that I was trying to be like him. Now though, I see that it was Killebrew who was a hero to my grandfather. He wanted me to not be like him. He wanted to see me in the light of one of his idols. That circle of heroism is the core reason of baseball and why it continues on as a game of America. Our heroes are the ones we watched as a kid. Their heroes are the ones they watch when they can no longer play the game that everyone loves. I even see it now when my daughter hits balls I throw to her. I see it when my son fires balls to me from across the yard. He is only two, she is five, but they are my heroes. Baseball is our game. Killebrew is a hero. He was a role model. He will be missed. So from harmandkillahbrew.weebly.com, thank you Mr. Killebrew. So long to the old #3; you will be missed, but we see you will be ever present because of how you lived.