Teammates, family honor Hall of Famer Killebrew

BOB BAUM, The Associated Press

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Harmon Killebrew's Hall of Fame career as one of the most powerful sluggers baseball has known was merely a subplot to his story as family and friends gathered to say goodbye.

What they recalled most was Killebrew the gentle, caring man who treated all those he encountered with respect.

Several hundred mourners, including past and present members of the Minnesota Twins, attended Killebrew's funeral service at a suburban north Phoenix church on a gorgeous sunny Friday morning.

Killebrew, who hit 573 home runs in his long major league career, died Tuesday at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., of esophageal cancer at 74.

Former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven had those in attendance stand and cheer Killebrew for an imagined home run No. 574 near the end of the service, and the crowd responded with a rousing effort.

But it was Killebrew the man who was celebrated far more than Killebrew the baseball player.

The nickname "Killer" didn't seem to fit a man so kind, his grandson Eric Queathem said.

"In his modest and caring way, he always tried to make people feel good about themselves," Queathem said.

Son Cam spoke of the outpouring of support his father had received in recent months as he fought the deadly disease.

"I don't think he really realized how much he was loved," he said. "That's the kind of man he was. He was so humble. He got a lot of things but I'm not sure he really got that, and it was just beautiful."

A private burial is planned Monday in Killebrew's hometown of Payette, Idaho. A memorial service is scheduled next Thursday night at Target Field in Minneapolis.

The Twins, in a twist of fate, were in Arizona to begin a three-game interleague series against the Diamondbacks on Friday night, so the entire squad was on hand.

Current Twins Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau, as well as manager Ron Gardenhire, were pall bearers, along with ex-Twin Paul Molitor and Killebrew's former teammates Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Frank Quilici. Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Frank Robinson also attended the service, which was open to the public.

Afterward, Cuddyer said it is his goal to "strive to be Harmon Killebrew."

"Strive to treat people the way he treated people," he said, "and make everybody feel comfortable, make everybody feel like they're special. For one of the biggest names in a sport to be able to make every single person he came into contact with feel special, that's a pretty big achievement."

A lone bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" as the casket was rolled into the giant auditorium, followed by the members of Killebrew's large family.

Country great Charley Pride sang "Precious Lord Take My Hand," ''I'll Fly Away" and a Killebrew favorite, "Mountain of Love."

Lifelong friend Ray Looney spoke of Killebrew's $30,000 bonus to sign with the Washington Senators and the joys of a golfing trip to Scotland. Son-in-law Craig Bair read some thoughts from Killebrew's wife, Nita, and from Killebrew himself.

"Harmon's philosophy was so simple and very clear and he wanted to make it clear to us," Bair said. "It goes like this. 'Always give more than you take. Always maintain an even calmness that you might calm others. Truly know that you are loved beyond measure and go out and share that love. Find a place of peace with your partner. Experience daily the love of your family. Enjoy your friends. Know your neighbors and especially go out of your way to do the same to the people new in your life.'"

Daughter Shawn Bair spoke of how she and her sister had driven to see him not long after he was diagnosed with cancer , and when they arrived at his hospital room, even though he was connected to all kinds of tubes, he did what his grandchildren called the "Papa Dance."

"He does love to dance," she said.

He was consumed by neatness, she said.

Hopefully in heaven, his daughter said, "there will be a patio to hose off and floors to vacuum."

Blyleven, now a Twins broadcaster, was the only non-family member other than the pastor to speak at the service. He said he had talked to Killebrew on the phone on Monday. The former slugger's biggest concern seemed to be the Twins' eight-game losing streak. The streak would reach nine before it ended Tuesday, the day Killebrew died.

The Twins beat Seattle 2-1 — a total of three, Blyleven noted. Minnesota had three hits, Seattle three. Coming to Arizona, the Twins had won three straight.

Killebrew, as any Twins fan will tell you, wore No. 3.

"The service was beautiful," Oliva said afterward. "It touched all the points, because that was the man."

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DAVE CAMPBELL, The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Harmon Killebrew earned every bit of his frightening nickname, hitting tape-measure home runs that awed even his fellow Hall of Famers.

Yet there was a softer side to "The Killer," too.

The balding gentleman who enjoyed a milkshake after each game. The fisherman who was afraid of bumping into alligators. The MVP who always had time to help a rookie.

Killebrew, the big-swinging slugger for the Minnesota Twins and the face of the franchise for so many years, died Tuesday at age 74 after battling esophageal cancer .

"It's a sad day. We lost an icon. We lost Paul Bunyan," former Twins star Kent Hrbek said.

The team said Killebrew died peacefully at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., with his wife, Nita, and their family at his side. He announced his diagnosis just six months ago, and last week Killebrew said he was settling in for the final days of his life with hospice care after doctors deemed the "awful disease" incurable.

At Target Field, the scoreboard showed a picture of a smiling Killebrew and his retired No. 3 was etched in the dirt behind second base. Plus, there was a more personal tribute — the Twins' ground crew slowly lifted home plate and put under it a plastic-encased, black-and-white photo of Killebrew.

The picture, believed to be from the 1960s, will

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stay beneath the plate the rest of the season. It shows, naturally, the compact Killebrew poised to go deep.

And boy, could he take a big cut.

His 573 home runs still rank 11th on the all-time list. His uppercut swing formed the silhouette that inspired Major League Baseball's official logo.

"You shake his hand, still at 70-some years old, and he'd crush your hand. You can see where he got that power," Twins slugger Justin Morneau said.

Along with a statue in Killebrew's likeness outside Target Field, there's a giant bronze glove where fans pose for snapshots — the glove is 520 feet from home plate, fittingly the distance of his longest home run.

Much farther away, Killebrew was on the minds of current major leaguers.

"We were just talking about him this morning," Atlanta star Chipper Jones said after the Astros-Braves game. "He looked like one of those big strong, country horses. You don't see guys like that anymore. He was a guy who really overpowered the baseball."

Nearby, teammate Eric Hinske nodded his head.

"He was as intimidating as hell," Hinske added.

But he wasn't always the tough guy. Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel became friends with Killebrew and Bob Allison during his first spring training with the Twins and often fished together in a Florida lake.

"There were some alligators in there, otters and things like that in there that would bump up against your leg," Manuel said. "They would get scared. So I would take the fish chain and hook it to the boat, and I'd wade and pull the boat. That was part of being a rookie."

Whether as an 18-year-old with the Washington Senators in 1954 or playing for Kansas City in his final season in 1975, Killebrew carried himself the same unassuming way.

"He never walked around with his nose in the air. Never, ever. He used to go out after every game and get a milkshake. A super guy," said former Royals second baseman Frank White, a youngster who played with Killebrew that final year.

The Twins played at Seattle on Tuesday night. Manager Ron Gardenhire said it was a somber clubhouse.

"A lot of guys out there are really sad. We're all honored that at least we had the chance to hang out with him a little and get to know him. He touched a lot of lives out there, not just on the baseball field, but the way you should handle yourself and a little bit about respect," Gardenhire said.

Hrbek's suburban home was mere blocks from old Metropolitan Stadium, a future Twins first baseman who became Minnesota's next true home-run hitter after being inspired by all those trips to the left-field bleachers to watch No. 3 bat fourth and aim for the fence, and beyond.

"You didn't ever leave the ballpark if the Twins had the chance to tie the ballgame or win the ballgame and Harmon was making it to the plate," Hrbek said.

He joined five other former Twins players at Target Field on Tuesday to share memories of Killebrew. Jack Morris, the 1991 World Series MVP and another native of the Twin Cities, grew up cheering for Killebrew during his heyday in the late 1960s.

"I lost a hero today," Morris said, his voice cracking and his eyes watering.

"To remember the innocence of being a young kid who just looked up to a guy he didn't know because of what he did as a baseball player, something that you hoped that maybe some day you could be like," Morris said. "But as a grown man, I look back at him now not as that guy, but as the guy who tried to show me that you don't have to be angry. You don't have to be mad. You can love and share love. We're all going to miss him, and we're all going to love him forever."

Killebrew was the American League MVP in 1969 at age 33 with 49 homers and 140 RBIs. His eight seasons with 40 or more homers still are tied for second in history to Babe Ruth.

Twins President Dave St. Peter said the team will wear a No. 3 patch on the uniforms for the rest of the season. A replica of his smooth, eloquent signature — Killebrew chided current Twins player Michael Cuddyer earlier in his career for a sloppy autograph — will be printed on the outfield wall. The team also planned a public memorial service, likely for May 26.

"I'm 32 years old. I never got to see him play. The majority of the people now never did get to see him as a baseball player," Cuddyer said. "But the reason he has made such an impact on the world is because of who he was outside of baseball, the 30-plus years after he retired from baseball. He continued to be an ambassador not just of baseball but of life in general."

With strong competition from Kirby Puckett in the generation that followed him, Killebrew will go down as perhaps the best-loved Twins player ever, possibly in all of Minnesota sports. Killebrew Root Beer is sold at Target Field, and there's a Killebrew Drive next to the mall where Metropolitan Stadium once stood in suburban Bloomington.

Killebrew spent most of his first five seasons in the minors, then hit 42 homers in his first full season in 1959. The Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961, and Killebrew hit 190 homers in his first four years there, including 49 in 1964.

The Washington Nationals included him in the Ring of Honor at their ballpark and hosted him for a game at Nationals Park last year.

"We shall long treasure that evening and the gentlemanly impression left by Harmon," Nationals principal owner Ted Lerner said.

Former Twins owner Calvin Griffith used to call Killebrew the backbone of the franchise.

"He kept us in business," Griffith once said.

Behind their soft-spoken slugger, a native of Payette, Idaho, the Twins reached the World Series for the first time in 1965 and back-to-back AL Championship series in 1969 and 1970. Killebrew was elected to the Hall of Fame in

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1984, the first Twins player to be enshrined. Killebrew's No. 3 jersey was retired in 1975.

That easygoing demeanor contrasted starkly with his intimidating standing.

"I didn't have evil intentions," Killebrew once said. "But I guess I did have power."

Killebrew never worried much about his short game, preferring instead to swing for the fences. He had a career .256 average.

On June 3, 1967, Killebrew hit the longest home run in Met Stadium history, a shot that reached the second deck of the bleachers in the old park, some 500 feet from home plate.

Killebrew and his wife had nine children. In retirement, he became a businessman in insurance, financial planning and car sales. He also traveled the country with baseball memorabilia shows and returned to the Twin Cities regularly, delighting in conversations with fans and reunions with teammates.

Former teammate Tony Oliva traveled to Arizona over the weekend to see Killebrew one last time. Paul Molitor, yet another Twin Cities native who became a big league star, also visited.

"I'm glad that God brought him home after the suffering he's been through the last few months," Molitor said, his eyes watering. He added: "I was very appreciative of the man he was and how I was able to learn from him. I picked the guy that you would want to pick to be your idol."

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AP Sports Writers R.B. Fallstrom, Howard Fendrich, Jon Krawczynski, Paul Newberry and Doug Tucker contributed to this report.

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Online:

Harmon Killebrew's website: http://www.harmonkillebrew.com

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Quotes about the death of Harmon Killebrew

The Associated Press, The Associated Press

Reaction to Tuesday's death of Minnesota Twins slugger and Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew:

"It is with profound sadness that we share with you that our beloved Harmon passed away this morning. He died peacefully surrounded by Nita and our family. He will be missed more than anyone can imagine but we take solace in the fact that he will no longer suffer. We thank you for your outpouring of support and prayers and take comfort in the fact that he was loved by so many." — Killebrew's family.

"When I learned the news about Harmon today, I felt like I lost a family member. He has treated me like one of his own. It's hard to put into words what Harmon has meant to me. He first welcomed me into the Twins family as an 18-year-old kid and has continued to influence my life in many ways. He is someone I will never forget and will always treasure the time we spent together. Harmon will be missed but never forgotten." — Twins catcher Joe Mauer.

"When I was a kid, I mean, you loved the name and the player and the excitement he brought when he went to the plate, and how far he could hit the ball. As I got into professional ball, and as I got a chance to meet him — I didn't know him well but in talking to other people — what a nice man he was. He was a real classy man who loved baseball and got back involved in it with the Twins. They loved having Harmon there. It's a moving story about him going into hospice, kind of saying it's my time. He accepted his fate and he did it with such class." — San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

"I am truly saddened by the loss of Harmon Killebrew, one of the great human beings I have ever known. All of Baseball has lost a true gentleman who represented the Minnesota Twins with class and grace for decades. Harmon was as tough and feared a competitor on the field as the game has ever seen, while off the field he touched everyone he encountered with his sensitive and humble nature. ...He led his life with modesty and dignity and I will miss him forever." — Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

"This is a sad day for all of baseball and even harder for those of us who were fortunate enough to be a friend of Harmon's. Harmon Killebrew was a gem. I can never thank him enough for all I learned from him. He was a consummate professional who treated everyone from the brashest of rookies to the groundskeepers to the ushers in the stadium with the utmost of respect. I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for Harmon Killebrew. He was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word." — former Twins star Rod Carew.

"No individual has ever meant more to the Minnesota Twins organization and millions of fans across Twins Territory than Harmon Killebrew. Harmon will long be remembered as one of the most prolific home run hitters in the history of the game and the leader of a group of players who helped lay the foundation for the long-term success of the Twins franchise and Major League Baseball in the Upper Midwest. However, more importantly Harmon's legacy will be the class, dignity and humility he demonstrated each and every day as a Hall of Fame-quality husband, father, friend, teammate and man. The Twins extend heartfelt sympathies and prayers to the Killebrew family at this difficult time." — Dave St. Peter, Twins president.

"Harmon was a Hall of Famer on and off the field. He was baseball's version of Paul Bunyan, with his prodigious home run power, leading by example in the clubhouse and on the field. Off the field, he emanated class, dignity, and warmth, and he was a great humanitarian. He was so down-to-earth, you would never realize he was a baseball legend. It's ironic that his nickname was "Killer," as he was one of the nicest, most generous individuals to ever walk the earth." — Jeff Idelson, president, National Baseball Hall of Fame.

"He was a great player, but he was an even greater man." — Minnesota State Rep. Bob Barrett, R-Shafer, recalling how his father once did contracting work at Killebrew's home and "couldn't remember having met a nicer man."

"When I would go to Twins games at the old Met stadium with my dad, I

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was just one of thousands of kids who were there with their families hoping for a homer from Harmon. It was always a thrill to see Harmon swing the bat and slam the ball over the fence and into the stands. He gave us pride in the Twins as well as the sport of baseball. We will cherish his memory." — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota.

"He was just a fierce competitor and a perfect gentleman at the same time. You don't see that a lot. Sometimes you get fierce competitors who are bad people. You see guys that are not fierce competitors but nice guys. You don't see the two of them together very much." — Fellow Hall of Famer George Brett.

"He was a great person. Tremendous. He'd do anything for you. I never ever heard him say anything bad about anybody. Never. In all the years I'd been around him." — Former teammate and current Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

"As a young player, he helped me a lot just in conversations on the bench talking about the game. That was a time when a lot of veterans wouldn't talk to young guys. But you could ask him about hitting. You could ask him about being a professional, things like that. He was an MVP, a guy who went to what, 13 All-Star games? But he never acted like he was better than you were. It was a tremendous honor to just sit on the bench and talk to him every day." — Former Kansas City Royals teammate Frank White.

"There wasn't a patsy in him, believe me. If he got angry, he got angry inside himself and you could see what it was because he got quiet. He just was determined, whether he struck out, whether he made an error, maybe something was going wrong as far as the ballclub went, that kind of stuff, you could see him gritting his teeth. ... I loved how we hated the Yankees, and he did, too. He didn't hate the men. He just hated getting beat by 'em." — Former teammate and Minnesota Twins manager Frank Quilici.

"It's going to be a loss for the Twins and the state of Minnesota. He was a great person and a great ambassador for baseball." — Twins fan Bob Wolf.

"We've lost a great man. We certainly lost an ambassador to baseball, certainly in the Minnesota area. I'm really lost for words because Harmon was a great man. He certainly always tried to help people once he finished playing the game." — Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington.

"To remember the innocence of being a young kid who just looked up to a guy he didn't know because of what he did as a baseball player, something that you hoped that maybe someday you could be like. But as a grown man, I look back at him now not as that guy, but as the guy who tried to show me that you don't have to be angry. You don't have to be mad. You can love and share love. We're all going to miss him, and we're all going to love him forever." — Former star Twins pitcher Jack Morris.

"I'm 32 years old. I never got to see him play. The majority of the people now never did get to see him as a baseball player. But the reason he has made such an impact on the world is because of who he was outside of baseball, the 30-plus years after he retired from baseball. He continued to be an ambassador not just of baseball but of life in general. It's why all the kind words that people are saying about him now is because of the person he was, not the baseball player." — Twins infielder-oufielder Michael Cuddyer.

"Talked to him a couple days ago and he sounded tired. Same thing I went through when I lost my Pops. He's in a better place right now." — Hall of Famer and former Twins teammate Bert Blyleven.

"You shake his hand, still at 70-some years old, and he'd crush your hand. You can see where he got that power." — Twins slugger Justin Morneau.

"A lot of guys out there (in clubhouse) are really sad. We're all honored that at least we had the chance to hang out with him a little and get to know him. He touched a lot of lives out there, not just on the baseball field, but the way you should handle yourself and a little bit about respect." — Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.