Harmon Killebrew died from esophageal cancer at the age of 73. His legendary baseball exploits (573 homeruns) where achieved in a simpler time and place – the Bloomington Minnesota of my youth. Back in those days summers meant school vacations that seemed to go on endlessly with plenty of Twins baseball on the radio and an occasional trip to Metropolitan Stadium (The Met) to watch my heroes in person.
During Killebrew’s career we young fans were innocent and ignorant.
Collective Bargaining? As far as we knew that referred to those times we’d gather, each of us with a shoebox full of our baseball card collections, to swap, trade, and bargain for our favorite players’ cards. Now days we know that collective bargaining means billionaire owners fighting with millionaire players.
Salary Arbitration? For all we knew the players’ salaries were totally arbitrary. I kind of figured they just got paid a living wage and were happy to play a kids game that they were good at while having thousands of people cheer for them. Now we know that the salaries are astronomical and the egos are too.
We used to wake to get the morning paper to check out the box score and read the articles about the game, especially following those nights when we fell asleep listening to the game on the radio (DAMN those West Coast road trips!). Now you can scarcely read an article about Major League Baseball WITHOUT the business portion of baseball being mentioned. I liked it better in Harmon’s day when baseball articles were predominantly about BASEBALL.
A Minnesota Twin died today.
Harmon Killebrew started his career as a Washington Senator but became a Twin when the team’s owner, Calvin Griffith, moved the franchise to Minnesota in 1961. Calvin was largely believed to be one of the stingiest owners in Major League Baseball. It was said that Mr. Griffith threw around nickels and dimes as if they were manhole covers. As cheap as he was, he could also be generous.
On occasion, as a kid, my dad would take us to games at the Met. We didn’t get to as many games as we would have liked because tickets, while much more reasonably priced back then, were still kind of expensive on a minister’s salary. It sure was fun though on those occasions that we did go.
I believe it was the 1973 season when Calvin sent a clergy pass to EVERY minister in Minnesota, good for 2 free tickets to any game as long as tickets remained available – kind of a Student Rush for men of the cloth. We could show up, take our chance, and get whatever seats were available. Typically dad bragged about our seat location, on the way to the gate as, “Great seats! Right behind second base!” They usually were in that location, and they were great seats, (inside a Major League Park) but in the outfield grandstand.
I recall going with dad to see the Twins play the Yankees one time that year. I was amazed as the tickets we received that day specified that we were to enter the stadium through a gate near the infield. I continued to be amazed as the ushers pointed us towards our seats. We had BOX SEATS! As we continued to move forward we found out WE HAD BOX SEATS VERY CLOSE TO THE FIELD! As we approached another usher he personally escorted us to our FRONT ROW SEATS NEXT TO THE YANKEE DUGOUT! Never mind that the game got rained out after 7 pitches. I was able to sit in seats at the Met, so-o-o close to my heroes. Those are seats that would undoubtedly cost me today, at Target Field, about what I pay each month for my mortgage, if they were available. In Harmon's day they were freebies given to a minister and his son. Unbelievable! 
See the people in the sunglasses? THOSE were our seats one day, and yes, that is Harmon at bat.
One of the heroes of my youth died today.
As a young fan I really liked Cesar Tovar and Rod Carew more than I liked Killebrew. Tovar and Carew were smaller players known more for their defense and hitting for average, respectively. Harmon was known for his monster homerun blasts. I couldn’t relate to Killebrew as a player, as I have NEVER hit a wiffleball, baseball, or softball, over ANY fence. I always respected him as a fan though, because regardless of the score of the game, if Harmon had a bat in his hand, at the plate, on deck, or in the hole, you knew that something special could happen shortly. With Harmon at the plate the stadium got both louder and quieter at the same time, if that is possible. The cheering and excitement level went up making things louder, but EVERY fan also blocked out any chatter or disruptions and concentrated on Harmon taking his cuts making it seem quieter as we watched him.
As a young player in the Bloomington Athletic Association (BAA) we often got to go to Knothole Games (Saturday day games – 5 kids free for every adult paid admission). Most memorable were the Knothole Games when the Twins would have pregame clinics. After batting practice a Twins coach would come out to right field and teach us all some of the basics. The highlight though was at the end of the clinic when Killebrew would come out and hit balls into the outfield grandstand while standing behind second base. It appeared as if Harmon had as much fun doing that as us kids had trying to catch those pop-ups. You’ve got to believe that for the kids that went home with one of those baseballs THOSE were the most memorable homeruns that Harmon ever hit.
Harmon was a humble hero and I believe he would want us to move on. I’ll take comfort in the fact that I am growing older and have formed new heroes in my adult life.
My lovely bride who raised two incredible kids is my biggest hero. Her patience and caring are endless. She raised a couple of kids who each got into their first choice colleges, and then out again in 4 years (actual graduation took me far longer than my kids). PLUS, she's put up with my crap for nearly 30 years and she still acts happy. (That's probably the biggest Who Knew mystery of all)
My daughter who, while playing high school hockey, was ALWAYS on the ice when the team needed either a goal scored or an opponent shutdown, is one of my heroes, because she is as dependable for doing the remarkable, in real life as she was on the rink.
My son, who never ceases to amaze us with his lively sense of humor (he’s actually the funniest guy I’ve ever known) and his compassion for others, through his work with students in need, is also one of my heroes.
I never actually met Harmon Killebrew in person, but I think he’d probably be impressed with the new adult heroes I admire now that the heroes of my youth are fading away.
Who knew?
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