Harmon Killebrew

During his prime, Killebrew was a slugger of mythical status. In American League cities, fathers would take their sons to the ballpark and point to places Killebrew reached with his prodigious power. He once hit a ball over the left-field roof at Tiger Stadium. When he returned to the hotel, he had messages from six different people who claimed to have the souvenir. They didn't know the head groundskeeper had walked out behind the stadium, found the ball resting near a drain pipe, and gave it to Killebrew as a keepsake.

I once saw him hit one in the old Yankee Stadium that the shortstop jumped for; it hit the outfield wall so hard that it bounced back to the left fielder, and Killebrew had a single. He was slow, but that ball must have bounced back 200 feet.

This May 29, 1959, file photo shows Harmon Killebrew, of the Washington Senators, shaking hands with President Dwight D. Eisenhower before the start of a baseball game against Boston, in Washington. At center is Calvin Griffith, president of the Senators. Hall of Famer Killebrew, known for his tape-measure home runs, died Tuesday, May 17, 2011, at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 74. (AP Photo/Harvey Georges, File)  The Senators moved out of DC in 1961, and went to Minnesota.

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