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Harmon Clayton Killebrew (; June 29, 1936 – May 17, 2011), nicknamed "The Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. During his 22-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Minnesota Twins, Killebrew was a prolific power hitter who, at the time of his retirement, was second only to Babe Ruth in American League (AL) home runs and was the AL career leader in home runs by a right-handed batter (since broken by Alex Rodriguez). He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. Killebrew was a stocky tall, hitter with a compact swing that generated tremendous power. He became one of the AL's most feared power hitters of the 1960s, hitting 40 home runs in a season eight times. In 1965, he played in the World Series with the Twins, who lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His finest season was 1969, when he hit 49 home runs, recorded 140 runs batted in (RBIs), and won the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Killebrew led the league six times in home runs and three times in RBIs, and was named to eleven All-Star teams. With quick hands and exceptional upper-body strength, Killebrew was known not just for the frequency of his home runs but also for their distance. He hit the longest measured home runs at Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium, , and Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, , and was the first of just four batters to hit a baseball over the left field roof at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Despite his nicknames and his powerful style of play, Killebrew was considered by his colleagues to be a quiet, kind man. Asked once what hobbies he had, Killebrew replied, "Just washing the dishes, I guess." After retiring from baseball, Killebrew became a television broadcaster for several baseball teams from 1976 to 1988, and also served as a hitting instructor for the Oakland Athletics. He also divorced and remarried during this time, moving to Arizona in 1990 and chairing the Harmon Killebrew Foundation. Killebrew was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December 2010, and died five months later. ==Early life== Born in Payette, Idaho on June 29, 1936, Harmon Killebrew was youngest of four children to Harmon Clayton, Sr. and Katherine Pearl (May) Killebrew. His father, a painter and sheriff, was a member of an undefeated Millikin College football team who was later named an All-American under eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Greasy Neale.〔Porter, p. 807.〕〔Thielman, p. 132.〕 According to family legend, Harmon Killebrew's grandfather was the strongest man in the Union Army, winning every available heavyweight wrestling championship.〔 Clayton encouraged Harmon and his brothers to stay active in various sports before his sudden death in 1953 at age 59.〔 As a child, Harmon played baseball at Walter Johnson Memorial Field, named after the Hall of Fame pitcher who spent part of his childhood in Idaho.〔Thielman, p. 131.〕 He worked as a farmworker in his youth, where he lifted 10-gallon milk cans, each can weighing about 95 lb (43 kg).〔 Killebrew earned 12 letters in various sports and was named an All-American quarterback at Payette High School; his uniform number was later retired by the school.〔〔Thielman, p. 134.〕 He was offered an athletic scholarship by the University of Oregon, but declined the offer.〔Porter, pp. 807–808.〕 In the early 1950s, Idaho Senator Herman Welker told Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith about Killebrew, who was hitting for an .847 batting average for a semi-professional baseball team at the time.〔〔Porter, p. 808.〕 Griffith told his farm director Ossie Bluege about the tip and Bluege flew to Idaho to watch Killebrew play.〔Thielman, p. 133.〕 The Boston Red Sox also expressed interest but Bluege succeeded in signing him to a $50,000 ($ today) contract on June 19, 1954.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harmon Killebrew」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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