On August 10th, 1971, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew became the 10th member of the 500-home run club. “Killer” hit his 500th and 501st home runs in a 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Killebrew hit his historic homer in the first inning off Mike Cuellar.

I never saw Harmon Killebrew play in person, but I did meet him a couple of times at baseball events and card shows. What stood out from those meetings was that he was, as many have said, a very, very nice man, a true gentleman.

Killebrew, according to his Baseball Reference page, was 6’0 and weighed 195. Tremendously strong, Killebrew could hit a baseball about as hard and as far as anyone who has ever played the game. It is probably his iconic swing that is featured in the familiar MLB logo.

The 1971 Twins finished with a losing 74-86 record, despite having five future Hall of Famers on their team:

• Harmon Killebrew
• Rod Carew
• Tony Oliva
• Jim Kaat
• Bert Blyleven

Harmon though had a typically good year. He hit a total of 28 homers in 1971. He also led the league in RBIs with 119 and in walks with 114. Killebrew walked a lot.

Killebrew played 22 years in the majors and is one of the original Minnesota Twins (the Twins were formed in 1961 when Calvin Griffith moved the Washington Senators franchise to Bloomington’s Metropolitan Stadium and renamed the franchise the Minnesota Twins). Sadly, his last season, 1975, was not with the Twins but with the Kansas City Royals.

The last time I saw Harmon was in 2006. He joined Paul Molitor, Ryne Sandberg, and a bunch of retired Twins at the opening night of Baseball As America exhibit at the Minnesota History Center. I went there with my friend Dave and we got a chance to talk to and take pictures with the Hall of Famer. Ever graceful and polite, I watched him patiently interact with excited Twins fans, including us.

Killebrew may have been born in Payette, Idaho, but he was pure Minnesotan, through and through.