Pic of the Week

A young Twins fan takes a photo of Rod Carew
with an iPad2 outside the church in Peoria, Ariz.,
where the Harmon Killebrew funeral was held.

There are several things about this photo for me to think about, not the least of which is the technology the girl is employing.

But the big one, for me at least: Rod Carew last played in the major leagues in 1986, almost 25 years ago.  Not only is she too young to have seen him play, her dad (depending on how old he is) may not remember seeing him play. Yet she knows enough about him to want to get his photo.

The thread of baseball, tying the generations together.

Harmon Killebrew, 1936-2011

A moment of silence before Tuesday night's game in Seattle.

Harmon Killebrew died this morning.

We'll miss him.

More Killebrew links

Moe eulogies written before the subject is dead:

Here's Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times with a Killebrew tribute and some Killebrew trivia.

Here's the great Joe Posnanski on "The Gentleman called Killer."

One more: Michael Cuddyer on Killebrew's influence on him -- with a mention of Mankato.

Pic of the Week

The Killebrew statue got the swing right
but not the face.

Two red roses adorned the plaque at the base of the statue of Harmon Killebrew on the plaza outside Target Field on Friday, the day Killebrew made it known that his esophageal cancer is terminal, that treatment has been ceased and that he was entering hospice care.

The plaque reads:

Harmon Killebrew

Minnesota Twins

1961-1974

From the book The Power Hitters 

by Donald Honig

"If ever anyone yielded a blunt instrument

at home plate, it was Harmon Killebrew.

There was nothing subtle about the Idaho 

strong boy. It was always his intention to

mash a pitched ball as far as he could."

"Yielded" isn't the right word.  "Wielded" is.  But the sense of the quote — and the basic thrust of the statue — is dead on. 

What they're saying about Harmon Killebrew (updated)

Harmon Killebrew and his Target Plaza statue last year.

No. 3 ain't dead yet, but the news that he's entering hospice care is triggering eulogies anyway. Which gives him the chance, if he's interested, to hear what would be said at his funeral.

So I thought I'd collect some links here. (I had intended to write my Monday print column on the Twins pitchers and walks, but I'll have a Harmon piece of my own instead.)

The Philadelphia Inquirer reprinted (or reposted) this 2007 piece by Jim Salisbury. The part about Danny Thompson seems particularly poignant in light of current events. Also from the Inquirer: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel talks about his old teammate: "I took him for granted. If I didn't see him hit a home run, I was disappointed. It seemed like he hit one every night."

This New York Times piece links Killebrew's farewell statement to those of Ronald Reagan and Charlton Heston. It also contains memories of pitching to Killebrew from Gary Peters and Mel Stottlemyre, two pretty good 1960s pitchers.

Rick Telander writes about "Death with dignity" in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Jim Kaat tells the New York Daily News he knew this was coming.

Broadcaster Paul Kennedy writes of Killebrew in the context of 1968's unrest. Mel Antonen writes of growing up a Twins fan and imitating the Killer's stance -- and of seeing him in spring training this year, in his last day wearing a Twins uniform.

ESPN.com's David Schonfield says Killebrew had the perfect name for a slugger.

(Links added Sunday morning below)

The Hardball Times' Bruce Markuson recalls Killebrew at the Hall of Fame. (And there's a comment from a reader describing his encounter with Killebrew at St. Peter.)

From the Arizona Republic, Killebrew and the MLB logo. Also in that story, Joe Garagiola's reaction to the red seat in the old Met marking a long Killebrew homer -- you lnow, the seat that still hangs in the Mall of America.

Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman celebrates a homestate hero who hit home runs when home runs meant something.

Harmon Killebrew enters hospice care

The Twins hung Harmon Killebrew's No. 3
in their dougout before Friday's game

There is little good, but much of the inevitable, in this news.

Nobody lives forever, not even a baseball "immortal," but that does not remove the sting in the Killer's imminent demise for Twins fans of a certain age.

---
This is small beans compared to the Killebrew news, but I want to fill my loyal readers in regarding this blog.

The Blogger service that hosts this blog had some problems beyond this user's understanding this week. The techies took it to read-only sometime Thursday and ultimately removed all posts since a specific time Wednesday evening. They say those posts will be restored, but as of this writing two of my posts -- Thursday morning's "The mid-afternoon run of Ben Revere" and a post written in advance and timed to publish early Friday, "Contemplating Rene Tosoni" -- are lost in the Google ether.

The Revere post was at least up for most of a day. The Tosoni one hasn't been seen by anybody but the author, and events have already overtaken it. He was, as the post predicted, returned to Rochester today to make room on the roster for Delmon Young.

Anyway, if you come here during the weekend, those may be back.

Harmon Killebrew has esophageal cancer

Harmon Killebrew: 573 home runs, countless fans.

I have nothing useful to say. Good luck, Harmon; the baby boomer generation of Twins fans, who grew up cheering you, is rooting for you still, and suddenly feeling a lot older ourselves.

Details here.

Thome and the Killer

Saturday's multi-pitcher bullpen meltdown obscured the exploits of the Gentleman Masher, Jim Thome, who bopped two dingers and a double — 10 total bases and three runs scored — and passed Harmon Killebrew on the all-time home run list.

That list is a lot less exclusive than it was when the Killer retired. He stood fifth — behind Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Frank Robinson — for a long time, with Aaron, Ruth and Mays the only men with 600-plus homers. Now Killebrew is out of the top 10, and Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa are in the 600-homer club, with Alex Rodriguez just five short.

And no, this isn't going to be a steroids rant. Records are made to be broken, and those hitters of the 1990s and 2000s who were 'roided up were hitting off pitchers who were 'roided up, and had the stuff been available in the 1960s, you can bet players would have been using them then too. Human nature hasn't worsened in 40 years, and the competitive mindset hasn't changed either.

Killebrew played his final game in 1975, when I was still in high school. Jim Thome was five years old then. The two men played in much different eras — Killebrew's peak corresponded to the power-pitcher friendly 1960s, when the mounds were unrestricted, the strike zone was defined as the top of the shoulder and runs were exceedingly scarce — but their defining numbers are strikingly similar:

• Killebrew hit 573 homers, drove in 1,584 runs and drew 1,559 walks.
• Thome now has 574 homers, 1,590 RBIs and 1,646 walks.

Thome has scored more than 200 runs more than Killebrew ( 1,506 to 1,283) and has better slash stats, but context is important in all of these numbers. A run was a lot more valuable in 1968 than it was in 1998, because there were so many fewer runs in the '60s.

I wasn't all that impressed with the Thome signing when it came to pass; I figured there was a reason the White Sox made no effort to retain him. But the man has a .597 slugging percentage this season, and he has certainly earned his money and his at-bats.