Age: 33 (June 29)
16th
season with Senators/Twins
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’0” Weight: 195
Prior to 1969:
The son of a
former college football fullback, Killebrew was a native of Payette, Idaho. A
burly and muscular youth who played football and basketball, as well as
baseball, in high school, he was playing in a semipro baseball league at age 17
when he came to the attention of Idaho US Senator Herman Welker, who brought
him to the attention of the Senators. Scouted by Washington, as well as the
Boston Red Sox, Killebrew signed a $6000 contract and $4000 bonus with the
Senators. As a bonus signee at the time, he had to be on the major league
roster for two years before he could be sent down to the minors and spent 1954
and ’55 as a sparsely utilized reserve third baseman for the Senators. He split
the 1956 season between Charlotte of the Class A South Atlantic League, where
he batted .325 with 15 home runs, and the Senators, where he hit .222 in 44
games with 5 home runs and 13 RBIs. Killebrew showed off his power in 1957 with
the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class AA Southern Association as he slugged 29
home runs. He split 1958 between Chattanooga and Indianapolis of the Class AAA
American Association, batting a combined .281 with 19 home runs and 64 RBIs. He
finally got a chance as the starting third baseman for the Senators in 1959 and
made the most of it, leading the AL with 42 home runs (tied with Cleveland’s
Rocky Colavito) in addition to driving in 105 RBIs and hitting .242. Killebrew
was named as an All-Star for the first time and finished fifteenth in league
MVP balloting. An unimpressive fielder and hindered by a leg injury, he split
1960 between third base and first and batted .276 with 31 home runs and 80
RBIs. The Senators moved to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and were rechristened
the Minnesota Twins in 1961 and, while primarily playing at first base (and
still shifting between the two corner infield positions), “Killer” (a monicker
which belied his pleasant nature) belted 46 home runs while hitting .288 with
122 RBIs. Killebrew was moved to left field in 1962 and once again led the
league in home runs (48) as well as RBIs (126) and batter strikeouts (142)
while batting .243 for the surprising second-place Twins. He topped the AL in
home runs again in 1963 (45) and 1964 (49), further establishing himself as a premier
power hitter. Minnesota won the AL pennant in 1965, but Killebrew, who went
back to splitting his time between first base and third, was sidelined by a
dislocated elbow in August that cost him seven weeks. He ended up with 25 home
runs and 75 RBIs in 113 games while hitting .269. He batted .286 with a home
run and two RBIs in the seven-game World Series loss to the Dodgers. In 1966 he
drew 103 walks on his way to leading the AL in that category for the first of
four occasions in a six-year span. Killebrew also hit .281 with 39 home runs
and 110 RBIs. He tied for the league lead in home runs in 1967 with 44. A severe
hamstring injury suffered during the 1968 All-Star Game limited Killebrew to
100 games with 17 home runs and 40 RBIs.
1969 Season Summary
Appeared in 162
games
3B – 105, 1B – 81
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 709 [2]
At Bats – 555
Runs – 106 [4,
tied with Sal Bando]
Hits – 153 [18,
tied with four others]
Doubles – 20
Triples – 2
Home Runs – 49 [1]
RBI – 140 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 145 [1]
Int. BB – 20 [1,
tied with Reggie Jackson]
Strikeouts – 84
Stolen Bases – 8
Caught Stealing
– 2
Average - .276
OBP - .427 [1]
Slugging Pct. -
.584 [3]
Total Bases – 324
[3]
GDP – 16 [14,
tied with Dave Johnson & Rick Reichardt]
Hit by Pitches
– 5 [16, tied with thirteen others]
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 4
League-leading home
runs were +1 ahead of runner-up Frank Howard
League-leading
RBIs were +19 ahead of runner-up Boog Powell
League-leading
walks drawn were +31 ahead of runner-up Reggie Jackson
League-leading
OBP was +.012 ahead of runner-up Frank Robinson
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 28, RBI – 91, AVG - .281, SLG PCT - .577
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 6 AB) at Oakland 6/20 – 14 innings
Longest hitting
streak – 10 games
HR at home – 28
HR on road – 21
Most home runs,
game – 2 on five occasions
Multi-HR games
– 5
Most RBIs, game
– 7 at Oakland 9/7
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding (3B)
Chances - 280
Put Outs – 75
Assists – 185
Errors – 20
DP – 12
Pct. - .929
Postseason: 3 G
(ALCS vs. Baltimore)
PA – 14, AB – 8,
R – 2, H – 1, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 6, IBB – 2, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS
– 0, AVG - .125, OBP - .500, SLG -.250, TB – 2, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF –
0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Harmon
Killebrew, Min.: 294 pts. - 16 of 24 first place votes, 88% share
Boog Powell,
Balt.: 227 pts. –6 first place votes, 68% share
Frank Robinson,
Balt.: 162 pts. – 2 first place votes, 48% share
Frank Howard,
Wash.: 115 pts. – 34% share
Reggie Jackson,
Oak.: 110 pts. – 33% share
---
Twins went 97-65
to finish first in the AL Western Division by 9 games over the Oakland
Athletics, while leading the league in runs scored (790), hits (1520), doubles
(246), RBIs (733), batting (.268), and total bases (2319). In the first season
of division play in the major leagues, the streaky Twins managed to outdistance
Oakland, a club they dominated in head-to-head play. Lost ALCS to the Baltimore
Orioles, 3 games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘69:
Killebrew
followed up in 1970 with his eighth and last (of eight) 40-home run season with
41 to go along with 113 RBIs and a .271 average. He placed third in AL MVP
voting. While his home run total dropped to 28 in 1971, he still topped the
circuit with 119 RBIs. He stayed with the Twins through 1974 with steadily
declining production. Offered the chance to be a player/coach or manager with
Minnesota’s Class AAA Tacoma franchise for 1975, Killebrew chose to sign with
the Kansas City Royals instead. As a Designated Hitter and pinch hitter in his
final major league season, he batted just .199 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs.
In his career with the Senators/Twins he batted .258 with 2024 hits that included
277 doubles, 24 triples, and 559 home runs. He further scored 1258 runs and
compiled 1540 RBIs. Including his season with the Royals, he ended up hitting
573 home runs with 1584 RBIs and a .256 batting average along with an on-base
percentage of .376 (a testament to his 1559 walks drawn). An eleven-time
All-Star (at three positions), he finished in the Top 10 in AL MVP voting on seven occasions,
including 1969. In 13 postseason games he hit .250 with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs.
The Twins retired his # 3 and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in
1984. Killebrew went into broadcasting for a time following his playing career
and suffered major financial losses in retirement. He died of cancer in 2011 at
the age of 74.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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