After remaining on the COG ballot for almost a year, Harmon Killebrew supporters made a late voting charge for a come-from-behind win for their man in the 98th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. The long-time Twins star belted 573 career home runs, not least because (as he candidly admitted after his career) that was his objective each and every time he went to the plate. That singular purpose translated into 14 consecutive 100 game seasons with 130 OPS+, the longest such streak of seasons in the AL.
More on Killebrew after the jump.
Killebrew debuted as an 18 year-old in 1954, but it would be 5 more years before he cracked even 100 AB in a season. When he finally got his chance at age 23, Killebrew made the most of the opportunity, with a 42 home run, 105 RBI campaign for the 1959 Senators, matching Roy Sievers‘ franchise home run record. It would be a sign of things to come as Killebrew would top 40 home runs in a season 7 more times, a feat eclisped only by the Babe‘s 11 such campaigns.
The Killer’s 261 home runs for his age 23-28 seasons topped the record total of 257 by Ralph Kiner and Jimmie Foxx, and has since been eclisped only by Ken Griffey (263) and Alex Rodriguez (275). Swinging for the fences came at a price of course, as Killebrew topped 100 strikeouts in each of those 6 seasons, at the time the longest ever streak of such seasons. Included was a majors-leading 142 whiffs in 1962 to eclipse (by one) the all-time record set the year before by the Tigers’ Jake Wood (Killer’s mark would also stand for only one season, as three players surpassed 142 the next year, led by Dave Nicholson‘s 175 K’s).
His age 28 season in 1964 would be something of a turning point for Killebrew. After those 6 seasons of 100 whiffs and fewer walks, Killebrew put up 8 straight seasons never striking out more than he walked. Included were 5 seasons reaching the century mark in walks, leading the AL in free passes in four of those campaigns. Being more patient didn’t hurt him in the RBI department, as Killebrew also reached 100 RBI in each of his 100 walk seasons, doing so a total of 7 times for his career. Quiz: among players with 7 or more 100 BB seasons and 100 RBI in each of those campaigns, who has more career home runs than Killebrew?
Killebrew was one of the most efficient RBI producers in baseball history, joining Babe Ruth as the only players with 2000 hits and RBI totaling over 75% of hits. Similarly, only Carlos Delgado has matched Killebrew in recording 1500 RBI from fewer than 2100 hits, and only Mark McGwire has also reached 500 home runs with any of the following: fewer than 300 doubles; home runs amounting to more than 27% of hits; or home runs amounting to more than 60% of extra-base hits.
Possibly, Killebrew’s most unusual AB occurred in the 1969 season, on May 18th against the Tigers. Batting in the 3rd inning, Killebrew came to the plate with runners at the corners, but struck out with the bases empty. In between, his teammates (Rod Carew and Cesar Tovar) combined for four stolen bases to score the Twins only two runs of the game (with that example, Killebrew stole 7 more bases that season for a career high of 8, almost half of his career total of 19). Killebrew retired after the 1975 season with fewer than 20 stolen bases and having never recorded a sacrifice bunt. At that time, the next highest career home run total among such players belonged to former teammate Brant Alyea, with 38 dingers. As in many areas of his game, Killebrew was a man ahead of his time, as today the Killer still tops that list, but 25 other retired players have filled in the spots between him and Alyea.
