Former Twins and Senators great Harmon Killebrew passed away today at the age of 74 just days after he announced he would end his fight with esophageal cancer and enter hospice care. The Hall-of-Famer was most notable on the field for his 573 home runs but was also known as one of the game's genuine nice guys off of it.
Killebrew signed with the Senators in 1954 under MLB's oft-forgotten bonus rule meaning he made his Major League debut at age 18 and would spend five seasons playing infrequently for the big league club, in the minors, or some combination of the two. He tied down a full time job in 1959 and hit 42 homers in that first season with regular at-bats. He would top the 40 mark six more times in his career on his way to ranking 11th on the all time list. Six steroid-era players rank ahead of the slugger from Idaho including suspected juicer Sammy Sosa and admitted users Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez.
He finished in the top four of MVP voting six times including winning the award in 1969 when he lead the American League in home runs, RBIs, walks, and OBP. In what must be a sign of the times he finished 11th in MVP voting in 1961 behind five Yankees and four Tigers. What cannot be found on the stat sheet is his colossal power, hitting a ball out of Tiger Stadium to left field and a legendary 500+ footer at Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota that is still honored inside the Mall of America years after the stadium's destruction on that site.
This light-tower power and Killebrew's unassuming, team-first attitude combines with an eye-popping stat-sheet to make him one of the more unforgettable Major Leaguers of all time.
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