Topps Baseball Cards from the Golden Age

Harmon Killebrew

January 22, 2009

Harmon Killebrew was a big man and could cover the ground in foul territory better than any other player.  He is shown here smothering another foul ball, keeping it from rolling into fair territory.

In reality, Killebrew was very agile for his size and could play a number of positions, including 3rd base, 1st base and the outfield.  In fact, he played in 11 All Star games and started at all three positions. Harmon, however, is known for his powerful swing, collecting 573 career homers. Known as “Killer” this mild-mannered superman did so only unto pitchers. He led the AL in home runs 6 times and had 40 or more home runs in a season 8 times, making him the top right-handed home run hitter of all time in the AL. He was AL MVP in 1969 and at the time seemed like the most likely player to surpass Ruth’s record.

His shots were power personified. He knocked the ball out of Tiger Stadium, and also set the mark for longest homer in Metropolitan Stadium. The seat that was broken by the blast is now suspended from the ceiling of Mall of America in Minneapolis.

You can check out Killebrew's stats at Baseball-Reference.

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