Highlighted Year: Harmon Killebrew, 1961

First Baseman/Third Baseman, Minnesota Twins

Age:  25 (June 29)

7^th 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 Washington 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 Killebrew primarily played at first base (and still shifting between the two corner infield positions).

1961 Season Summary

Appeared in 150 games

1B – 119, 3B – 45, LF – 2

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 656 [17]

At Bats – 541

Runs – 94 [10]

Hits – 156 [18, tied with Jim Piersall]

Doubles – 20

Triples – 7 [7, tied with five others]

Home Runs – 46 [3, tied with Jim Gentile]

RBI – 122 [6]

Bases on Balls – 107 [4]

Int. BB – 6 [9, tied with Elston Howard]

Strikeouts – 109 [5]

Stolen Bases – 1

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .288 [14, tied with Albie Pearson]

OBP - .405 [5]

Slugging Pct. - .606 [5]

Total Bases – 328 [5]

GDP – 11

Hit by Pitches – 3

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 5

Midseason snapshot: 3B – 4, HR – 26, RBI – 68, AVG - .335, SLG - .696, OBP – .451

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Most hits, game – 5 (in 6 AB) at Boston 6/12

Longest hitting streak – 12 games

HR at home – 29

HR on road – 17

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. Boston 5/7, (in 4 AB) vs. Baltimore 6/21

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 5 at KC A’s 7/1

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding (1B)

Chances - 1053

Put Outs – 972

Assists – 67

Errors – 14

DP – 91

Pct. - .987

Awards & Honors:

All-Star

11^th in AL MVP voting (29 points, 10% share)

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The relocated and renamed Twins went 70-90 to finish seventh in the AL, 38 games behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees. The Twins got off to a promising start with a 9-6 April but slumped thereafter and were 23-36 in June when manager Cookie Lavagetto was replaced by Sam Mele. Following a brief summer lift, the club dropped down and moved into seventh place to stay on September 17. They drew 1,256,723 fans to Metropolitan Stadium, an increase of over 513,000 from their last season in Washington.

Aftermath of 1961:

“Killer” (a nickname which belied Killebrew’s pleasant nature) was moved to left field in 1962 and led the league in home runs (48) as well as RBIs (126) and batting 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. He came back with a 1969 season in which he was named league MVP, batting .276 while leading the AL in home runs (49), RBIs (140), walks drawn (145), and OBP (.427). In the first season of divisional play, the Twins topped the new AL West, losing the ALCS to the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game sweep. Killebrew followed up in 1970 with his eighth and last 40-home run season, totaling 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. 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.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.