After a six month battle with esophageal cancer, Minnesota Twins legend Harmon Killebrew has passed away at the age of 74 today at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was one of the top Twins players, if not the top, of all-time. He currently sits 11th on the all-time career home run list with 573 home runs, 475 were hit in a Twins uniform. He drew so many fans during the Twins early days, that then owner, Calvin Griffith rewarded him by making him the first Twin player to make $100,000 in a season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984 after receiving 83.1% of the vote.
Not only was he a great baseball player, but he was even better off the field. Whether it was hosting a golf tournament to raise money for cancer research or just showing up at Twins Spring Training to help the current players become better and share tips.
He was also known to be such a gentleman and everyone who worked with him, played with him, or just even said hi to him, he would take the time to talk to everyone and never worried about his own well being. Just this past weekend when manager Ron Gardenhire went to go visit him, Killebrew wanted to know how Gardenhire was holding up after a very slow start to the season. It was that kind of caring about others that made Killebrew such a fan favorite and he will be missed greatly.
There will never be another player like Harmon Killebrew. So I end by sending my condolences to the Killebrew family and to the Twins organization as they mourn the loss of a true legend and an even better person.
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