Goodbye To A True Hero

For many people my age, all we have to go on when it comes to some of the great things and special people of the past are the stories and legends we've heard.  Those stories and those legends bring us closer to a time that we never knew, but often times wish we did.  Today is one of those days where the stories you hear bring you closer to those times, and more importantly, closer to one of those special people.  That person is Harmon Killebrew.

When we, as sports fans, lose an icon like Harmon Killebrew, we try to reflect on the person and the life.  Unfortunately, like many, I wasn't fortunate enough to be around during his playing days.  If you know me, you know how much I love the game of baseball, and it's history.  Whether it's taking a trip out to Cooperstown, NY to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame, or sitting on the couch watching Ken Burns' "Baseball", the history of the game is something that keeps fans of the sport interested for hours, for days, and for lifetimes.  Harmon Killebrew was as big a part of that history as many others before him, and many others after.

Harmon was one of those players who was known for playing the game "the right way."  He was a humble man with a huge swing.  Nicknamed "The Killer", he crushed 573 career home runs, which ranks him 11th all time.  Considering that four of the players in front of him have been linked to performance enhancing substances makes his 573 homers that much more impressive.  He was an idol to many, including current Minnesota Twin, Jim Thome, who passed Harmon on the all-time home run list last season.  He was one of the guys many looked up to and idolized, one of those being my father.

My father, who passed away last year from pancreatic cancer, was a big fan of Harmon's.  As we'd sit and watch games together over the years, and we'd see balls hit out of the ballpark, it was either Mickey Mantle or Harmon Killebrew that those shots were compared to.  Living in Minnesota his whole life, my dad grew up with Harmon Killebrew and the Twins, and thus, I heard many stories of greatness from him.  Without ever having met him, you almost felt like you'd known him for years.  That was the type of impact he had on many.

It isn't possible to go back, other than in our minds and hearts.  Often times, death makes it difficult to go back.  It's really the life that we need to celebrate.  That's what touched the lives of so many...the life.  Harmon lived his the right way.

Thank you Harmon!  You will be missed.