Harmon Killebrew

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.

A Gay Sports Executive: So What?

Suns executive Rick Welts with NBA Commissioner David Stern

Over the weekend amidst the snooze-fest that is the NBA Playoffs there was a slightly different NBA story grabbing attention across the country. The president and CEO of the Phoenix Suns came out as a homosexual in a New York Times article. Over the past few decades the sporting world has earned a reputation as impenetrable by homosexuality, the ultimate taboo subject when it comes to locker rooms and male-on-male competition. Rick Welts has been involved in the league for most of his life, starting out as a ballboy for the Seattle Supersonics before holding multiple jobs in a variety of capacities. His contributions include the idea of the NBA All-Star Weekend (including the Slam Dunk Contest) and the WNBA, the oft-criticized sister league of the NBA that has remained afloat thanks to the partnership with its male-counterpart. Clearly Welts is a talented executive and his homosexuality should play no role in his professional life.

Debating the source and acceptability of homosexuality can be one of the tougher tasks this side of a haystack. Here in the South it runs parallel to the abortion debate. The fundamental source of evidence for many in this area is the Bible. Those who argue for its supreme reliability are unlikely to accept anything that contradicts the text. For this reason many still believe homosexuals make the sinful choice to join a group that is often harassed, shunned, and discriminated against. I personally find it hard to ignore scientific findings that show gender-specific brains that do not necessarily match the body in which they are found. Certainly my beliefs are not more special or inherently correct than others and I also fill in scientific dots with what I see in the real world around me. I do not expect my beliefs to suddenly become the norm amongst people who see things differently than do I. However I think the sports world will continue to become slightly more accepting of homosexuals, chipping away at long-held belief that they cannot exist in that culture.

Rick Welts has made many contributions to the NBA as an executive and now the revelations about his personal life, and the classy way in which he handled it, have set the stage for what could be a far greater contribution to sports and society in general.