Harmon Clayton Killebrew Jr., who spent all but one of his 22 seasons in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins franchise, was one of the most feared power hitters in the big leagues for much of his career.
Harmon Killebrew: Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Class of 1972
Killebrew was one of top power hitters in MLB history.
October 17, 2019 at 7:33PM
Killebrew, who made his major-league debut in 1954, hit at least 40 home runs in a season eight times between 1959 and 1970. Twice he hit 49 home runs in a season and he 48 in another. In 1969, he hit 49 home runs and had 140 RBIs to earn A.L. MVP honors. He led the A.L. in home runs six times and in RBIs three times. He was named to thirteen All-Star teams.
Killebrew was known not only for how many home runs he hit, but how far he could hit them. He hit the longest measured home run (520 feet) at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium (471 feet) and was the first of just four batters to hit a baseball over the left field roof at Detroit's Tiger Stadium.
He finished with 573 career home runs.
After retiring from baseball in 1975, Killebrew became a television broadcaster for several baseball teams from 1976 to 1988, and also served as a hitting instructor for the Oakland Athletics.
Killebrew was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.
HARMON KILLEBREW
Class: 1972.
Sport: Baseball.
Team: Twins.
