I just loved Harmon Killebrew‘s beautiful compact swing. When I finally met him, to get an autograph and a picture with him and I was in my early 30s, I felt like a little kid again. He was even nicer in person than I could’ve imagined.
I watched this on June 29, Harmon's birthday. I remember listening to Twins games on the radio, and getting excited when Harmon was coming up. He might hit one out during any at bat. He would have blew up big playing for the Yankees, underrated as a MN Twin. I'm glad that us Twins fans got to watch him for all those years.
I saw him play many times. They didn't call him "The Killer" for nothing. It was always intersesting when he was at bat. Not a big guy, he had a tight swing that used his strong forearms and wrists to whip the bat through the hitting zone with serious power. He had good plate coverage but often went after pitches out of the strike zone, sometimes striking out, sometimes not. I remember once in Chicago against the White Sox, he hit a long home run on a pitch that would have been outside in the dirt if he hadn't connected. A nice guy, too.
I grew up in the tri state area so as a young kid I didn't have a lot of opportunities to see harmon play a lot unless he was playing the Yankees or the red Sox. So I always thought that the press was overrating him a bit but later on after researching his career and his leadership abilities besides his stats I think he actually may have been underrated. He was a tremendous player
He was only 5'11" but had a Stanton-like lonnnng swing with a complete follow through. That long swing meant more strikeouts but when he got ahold of one... he crushed it.
The league office claims that they did not model the MLB logo after Killebrew. They just didnt waant to pay him royalties. No body else looked like that!
@@davanmani556 I think you raise a fascinating point. Neither man granted advanced permission, and neither man was ever paid royalties. I think the difference was that West disdained the NBA logo , and always wanted it removed. The NBA always acknowledged it was Jerry West. Killebrew embraced the logo and rubbed it in the leagues face that they stole his image without acknowledging the fact.
Wow. Thanks so much for posting this--- I remember watching Harmon and Boog Powell, Frank Howard, Willie Mays, Johnny Bench on NBC Saturday game of the week. All day games, back then in the '60's. Night baseball hadn't totally overcome the game yet. A great time to be a fan. These powerful men HIT THE BALL A MILE-- No juice, no juiced ball. Just honest talent and strength!!
I remember my late Grandpa telling me he met him at a spring training game..one of the nicest guys he ever met.First Class Gentelman!! Not like alot of the idiot out there today.
So Killebrew is one of the only few right handed batter who would face defensive shift before the 90s, interesting. Not saying he is bad, I mean he is a great hitter, just pointing out the fun fact.
@@raddmann336against a right handed batter is rare at that time, just like against McGwire before 2010. Before 2010 shift is more commonly used against left handed hitter.
Killebrew's homer at Fenway at about 9:20 has a story to it. It was the next to last game for the AL pennant and Boston was up 6-2. With a runner on first, they didn't want to just walk Harmon with Allison coming to bat with men on base (he was dangerous with men on), so Dick Williams told the pitcher Santiago to groove it for him. He kind of gave the Twins 2 runs they didn't need, if that makes sense. The Killer hit it about 459 ft over the Monster, and the Sox won that Saturday and on Sunday to take the flag. What a year it was!!
Griffith moved the Senators to Minnesota right when they were moving up and the fans in D.C. had to suffer watching an awful pieced-together team barely scrape 60 wins together throughout the 60's (even after acquiring Frank Howard.)
I think one Killibrew weakness was that he was a slow developer and wasted a few years in the minors. Also, he didnt age well, his weight slowed him down in the 70's.
I saw Theisman leg break, I saw Sid Vicious leg break, Ive seen Stingley. They were horrible to watch. But for some reason (for me) the most gruesome injury in sports history was watching Killebrew do the splits in the 68 All-Star game. He immediately fell to his back and was stretchered out. I dont know if he was conscious or knocked out because he didnt move an inch or give a thumbs up to the crowd. Most people who get carted out give a thumbs up. A man's body is not supposed to do that! They say that his cleat got caught in the AstroTurf and nobody had any experience playing on Astro-turf. I dont know if it was a hamstring or Achilles tendon. Ive heard both ways.
@@dominickclaflin5295 That's right. Poor guy hit only 573 of them, so, it is totally understandable. I'll tell you what is really rare: Find a clip of him executing a sacrifice bunt. Because [wait for it] ... he never did. In fact, he set the record for most at bats without one.
He's using whole field where you think about his speed. Dimension of park could contextualize the power. Vs lefties looks like he just level swings and they carry to center. Some of the homeruns are on tough pitches not so centered.
The random switches between silent and sound videos drive me crazy. Unless the only record of a career achievement is a silent video, please stick to videos with sound.
I’m sorry but the ones with no sound are completely soundless in it’s original state. That’s what sucks with some of the older players. I also feel the same with you but I can’t really do anything about it.
Killer led the Majors in home runs seven times (1959, 1962-64, 1967, 1969), three times (1962, 1969, 1971) he led the Majors in Runs Batted In. Four times (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971) he led the Majors in bases on balls (walks), and won the 1969 AL MVP award
I just loved Harmon Killebrew‘s beautiful compact swing. When I finally met him, to get an autograph and a picture with him and I was in my early 30s, I felt like a little kid again. He was even nicer in person than I could’ve imagined.
I watched this on June 29, Harmon's birthday. I remember listening to Twins games on the radio, and getting excited when Harmon was coming up. He might hit one out during any at bat. He would have blew up big playing for the Yankees, underrated as a MN Twin. I'm glad that us Twins fans got to watch him for all those years.
Halsey Hall and Herb Carneal
One of THE greatest HR hitters of all time...and he was a nice man!
Was lucky enough to see him hit one of his many HRs.
A kid from NJ whose baseball hero was Harmon. I attended his HOF induction and got the chance to meet and speak with him. Nice man.
He hit some of the longest home runs of the era, very high and very deep. He put it in the street plenty of times at Fenway.
I saw him play many times. They didn't call him "The Killer" for nothing. It was always intersesting when he was at bat. Not a big guy, he had a tight swing that used his strong forearms and wrists to whip the bat through the hitting zone with serious power. He had good plate coverage but often went after pitches out of the strike zone, sometimes striking out, sometimes not. I remember once in Chicago against the White Sox, he hit a long home run on a pitch that would have been outside in the dirt if he hadn't connected. A nice guy, too.
I grew up in the tri state area so as a young kid I didn't have a lot of opportunities to see harmon play a lot unless he was playing the Yankees or the red Sox. So I always thought that the press was overrating him a bit but later on after researching his career and his leadership abilities besides his stats I think he actually may have been underrated. He was a tremendous player
He was only 5'11" but had a Stanton-like lonnnng swing with a complete follow through. That long swing meant more strikeouts but when he got ahold of one... he crushed it.
The league office claims that they did not model the MLB logo after Killebrew. They just didnt waant to pay him royalties. No body else looked like that!
Jerry West
@@davanmani556 I think you raise a fascinating point. Neither man granted advanced permission, and neither man was ever paid royalties. I think the difference was that West disdained the NBA logo , and always wanted it removed. The NBA always acknowledged it was Jerry West. Killebrew embraced the logo and rubbed it in the leagues face that they stole his image without acknowledging the fact.
Wow. Thanks so much for posting this--- I remember watching Harmon and Boog Powell, Frank Howard, Willie Mays, Johnny Bench on NBC Saturday game of the week. All day games, back then in the '60's. Night baseball hadn't totally overcome the game yet.
A great time to be a fan. These powerful men HIT THE BALL A MILE-- No juice, no juiced ball. Just honest talent and strength!!
I got his autograph when I was a very young kid. I asked him to hit a home run for me and sure enough he did.)
that’s my uncle!
His swing was so compact
The very definition of Country Strong. My favorite player as a kid in the late sixties. The Killer hit more homers than Mays, or Aaron in the sixties.
He went down to a knee a few times. He stayed back and probably pulled on slower pitches.
Compact swing? I don’t think so. He took a tremendous cut.
Thank you for posting. That homer in Yankee Stadium brought back some memories
A sweet swat! A spectacular player.
I remember my late Grandpa telling me he met him at a spring training game..one of the nicest guys he ever met.First Class Gentelman!! Not like alot of the idiot out there today.
The literal logo.
Thank you!
So Killebrew is one of the only few right handed batter who would face defensive shift before the 90s, interesting. Not saying he is bad, I mean he is a great hitter, just pointing out the fun fact.
Yeah I remember some teams doing a shift.
Not a lot of him going other way in the clips. Looks like when he ambushed lefties, he didn't necessarily pull.
@@raddmann336against a right handed batter is rare at that time, just like against McGwire before 2010. Before 2010 shift is more commonly used against left handed hitter.
Great video 👍
Killebrew's homer at Fenway at about 9:20 has a story to it. It was the next to last game for the AL pennant and Boston was up 6-2. With a runner on first, they didn't want to just walk Harmon with Allison coming to bat with men on base (he was dangerous with men on), so Dick Williams told the pitcher Santiago to groove it for him. He kind of gave the Twins 2 runs they didn't need, if that makes sense. The Killer hit it about 459 ft over the Monster, and the Sox won that Saturday and on Sunday to take the flag. What a year it was!!
That makes no sense.
@@raddmann336 It's done that way sometimes. They feel better when there's no one on base and the pitcher doesn't have to go from the stretch.
Huh?
Griffith moved the Senators to Minnesota right when they were moving up and the fans in D.C. had to suffer watching an awful pieced-together team barely scrape 60 wins together throughout the 60's (even after acquiring Frank Howard.)
If he stayed healthy….would have hit more than Mays, easily!
Listed as six feet and top heavy but average speed looks like.
I think one Killibrew weakness was that he was a slow developer and wasted a few years in the minors. Also, he didnt age well, his weight slowed him down in the 70's.
I saw Theisman leg break, I saw Sid Vicious leg break, Ive seen Stingley. They were horrible to watch. But for some reason (for me) the most gruesome injury in sports history was watching Killebrew do the splits in the 68 All-Star game. He immediately fell to his back and was stretchered out. I dont know if he was conscious or knocked out because he didnt move an inch or give a thumbs up to the crowd. Most people who get carted out give a thumbs up. A man's body is not supposed to do that! They say that his cleat got caught in the AstroTurf and nobody had any experience playing on Astro-turf. I dont know if it was a hamstring or Achilles tendon. Ive heard both ways.
Harmon helped keep the Twins alive. So did Rod Carew.
Played his first few seasons in cavernous Griffith Stadium. Otherwise, he would have finished his career with over 600 home runs.
Interesting to note that many of the "highlights" of one of the greatest power hitters in MLB history are ... singles.
It was very difficult to find clips of him hitting home runs.
@@dominickclaflin5295 That's right. Poor guy hit only 573 of them, so, it is totally understandable. I'll tell you what is really rare: Find a clip of him executing a sacrifice bunt. Because [wait for it] ... he never did. In fact, he set the record for most at bats without one.
He's using whole field where you think about his speed. Dimension of park could contextualize the power. Vs lefties looks like he just level swings and they carry to center. Some of the homeruns are on tough pitches not so centered.
Number 5oo?
Killebrew mccovey kingman .all great poerhitters would of hit 800 homeruns in this era
Watching Killerbrew get base hits are not highlights!
The random switches between silent and sound videos drive me crazy. Unless the only record of a career achievement is a silent video, please stick to videos with sound.
I’m sorry but the ones with no sound are completely soundless in it’s original state. That’s what sucks with some of the older players. I also feel the same with you but I can’t really do anything about it.
This is the worst highlights ever, just running the bases
My Dawg!
He is in the lines of Babe, Bench, 3:18 mantle, Rose, G JR……. And other Greats that played the game.
THE KILLER IS MY DAWG!
Killer led the Majors in home runs seven times (1959, 1962-64, 1967, 1969), three times (1962, 1969, 1971) he led the Majors in Runs Batted In. Four times (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971) he led the Majors in bases on balls (walks), and won the 1969 AL MVP award