| My Tribute to Harmon Killebrew |
| By Sally Haase May 19, 2011 About fifteen years ago, I started my career in playing summer softball, I was given a jersey with the number three which was perfect for me because I love baseball and knew the great players who wore the number 3- Babe Ruth and Harmon Killebrew; and when I was asked to give up my “3” jersey to someone else I was ready to burst into tears. I didn’t want to let it go, lucky my dad stepped in and told the summer softball organizer that I wanted to keep the “3” jersey and I wore it with pride, to this day, I still remember someone calling me Harmon after a base hit. I knew this news was coming when Minnesota Twins great and Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew announced that he was entering hospice care and ended his treatments for esophageal cancer; but reading the news online today still hit me like a ton of bricks. Killebrew passed away Tuesday at the age of 74 with his wife Nita and family by his side; another person taken away too soon from this terrible disease. There is a popular saying that people should never meet their heroes because it ends up being a disappointment and you wonder why you ever admired them in the first place. Well, Harmon Killebrew was the opposite of that, if you were lucky enough to meet him, you walked away from the meeting with more love a respect for him. I had the pleasure of meeting Killebrew in April of 2010; he was a part of a storyteller series presented by the Traverse des Sioux Library System in St. Peter, MN. Killebrew talked about his career and answered questions from fans, a few interesting tidbits he discussed was Ted Williams telling him the double he hit in the previous day’s game was actually a home run, so Killebrew said he actually has 574 home runs. Another story he told was about warming up at the ballpark and overhearing two brothers talking, the younger brother asked his older brother who that man was, the brother responded “Harmon Killebrew” “ Oh, is he any good” “He used to be.” After the Q & A session, Killebrew took his place at a table and signed autographs and took pictures will all of the fans who attended- almost 500 people. Being near the very end of the line, I waited for over two hours for a few moments with one of the greatest Twins of all time. When it finally got to be my turn, Killebrew was just as friendly and up beat as he was when the first few people came to the table. He was happy to meet me, sign my photo and take a photo with him, ever the gentleman, Killebrew stood up to take a photo with me saying he stands up for the ladies so we would have to squat down to his level. I never got the chance to watch him play, but Killebrew will always be one of my favorite baseball players of all- time. It was an honor to meet Killebrew and I hope he knows how many lives he’s touched in his 74 years on this earth, on the field and off the field Killebrew was always at the top of his game. Rest in Peace Harmon. |
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Sally Haase, and Harmon Killebrew