Hall of Fame Slugger: Harmon Killebrew

Baseball Digest, Dec, 2004 by Adam Schefter

Talking about Harmon Killebrew, former Baltimore Orioles manager Paul Richards once said, "He can knock the ball out of any park, including Yellowstone." Baseball's most feared power hitter of the 1960s, Killebrew belted 40 or more homers in a season eight times--including 49 in 1969, his American League MVP season. Fifteen years later, after a career in which he piled up 573 home runs and 1,584 runs batted in, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Adam Schefter: Of all the causes you support, which means the most to you?

Harmon Killebrew: I started a golf tournament with my former business partner, Ralph Harding, the United States congressman from Idaho. The tournament was named after a former (Minnesota Twins) player of ours, Danny Thompson, who died of leukemia in 1976, when he was only 29. He was a good friend, and I went to his funeral in Capron, Oklahoma.

He had a young wife and two small children, and I thought: "Boy, what a terrible thing. I wish there was something we could do." We started the Danny Thompson Memorial golf tournament in Sun Valley, Idaho, not knowing what might happen. Over the last 27 years, we've been giving the funds to the University of Minnesota Leukemia Research Foundation and Mountain States Tumor Institute of Boise, and we've been able to raise 86.1 million for research.

AS: Which was your most memorable home run?

HK: I remember the first one, the last one, and quite a few in between. But my first one was special because I was only 18 years old. We were playing the Detroit Tigers at Griffith Stadium in Washington, and I came to the plate, and it was against a left-handed pitcher by the name of Billy Hoeft, and the catcher was Frank House. When I stepped to the plate, Frank said, "Kid, we're going to throw you a fastball." I didn't know whether he was telling me the truth or not, I was so young and naive.

I wasn't quite sure, but sure enough, here came a fastball, and I hit it 476 feet--probably the longest home run I ever hit in Griffith Stadium. I know how far it was because our PR director went out the next day and checked it off to where it hit in the left-field bleachers. Anyway, as I was coming around the bases, I stepped on home plate and Frank House said, "Kid, that's the last time we're ever going to tell you what's coming." And sure enough, it was. Nobody ever told me what was coming after that.

AS: What do you remember about playing for the Washington Senators?

HK: We didn't win a lot of games. In fact, they'd call Washington, "First in war, first in peace and last in the American League." If they turned the standings upside down, we would have won the pennant every year. We were just starting to become a good team when we moved to Minnesota. When people ask me, "Why'd you move to Minnesota?" I say, "Well, the attendance wasn't too good." Fans would come to the old Griffith Stadium and ask the ticket people, "What time's the ballgame tonight?" And the person on the other end would answer, "What time can you get here?"

AS: Did you ever get to meet any presidents in Washington?

HK: I met seven presidents. The first one was President Eisenhower. Then I met President Nixon when he was the vice president, and Lyndon Johnson, Ford, Reagan, Bush Sr., Bush Jr.

AS: Did any make a mark on you?

HK: They all did, certainly. President Eisenhower called me over to his box seats in June of 1959 and asked me if I would give his grandson, David, an autographed baseball. And I said, "Yes, Mr. President, I will if you'll give me one in return," which he did. But I wasn't going to refuse the president anyway.

AS: How did you get "Killer" for a nickname?

HK: When I grew up, that's what my teammates in grade school and high school called me. I guess it came natural from the name Killebrew.

AS: Where did your strength come from?

HK: My father was a very strong person, and if you want to go way back in my family history, my great-grandfather was reputed to be the strongest man in the Union Army during the Civil War.

AS: What do you remember about playing baseball in your backyard with your father and brother?

HK: Dad used to work with my brother and me on different things that were important in all sports--football, basketball, baseball. One evening we were out in the front yard, and my mother came out on the porch and said to my father, "Clay, the boys are digging holes in the yard, tearing up the grass." And my father went over to my mother and very sternly said: "Kate, we're not raising grass here. We're raising boys."

AS: How good were you at quarterback?

HK: I was a high school All-American. I had accepted a scholarship to play football at the University of Oregon. As it turned out, I signed with the Washington Senators, so I went directly to the major leagues. The interesting thing is, Oregon wanted me to take over at quarterback for George Shaw, who played for the Vikings and Colts. I didn't go to Oregon, but four years later Oregon went to the Rose Bowl. I always wondered, "If I had been there, would they have gotten to the Rose Bowl?"