Remembering Harmon

The MInnesota Twins held a public memorial service for Harmon Killebrew at Target Field on Thursday evening. It was a fitting tribute to a magnificent ballplayer and outstanding man (who also happened to be a solid conservative).
More than 40 members of the Killebrew family were there. The Killebrew clan included Harmon’s widow, Nita Killebrew. Mrs. Killebrew gave an incredibly moving speech in honor of her husband. She radiated love and respect. The video of her remarks is available here.
Henry Aaron attended the service. His presence made a statement all by itself, as did the presence of many of Harmon’s former teammates. Harmon’s former teammates portrayed a man in full. Jim Kaat spoke from the heart at length without a note and with remarkable eloquence. The video of Kaat’s remarks is here.
Former Twins pitcher Jim “Mudcat” Grant sang “Wonderful World,” one of Harmon’s favorite songs and one that Harmon frequently asked Grant to sing for him. The video of Grant’s performance is here.
The great Rod Carew, a man who has seen has own share of suffering, spoke with deep feeling of his friendship with Harmon dating back to the time that Rod joined the team as a hot-headed rookie. Rod’s remarks really hit home for me, one big man paying tribute to another.

All honor to the Minnesota Twins organization and the Pohlad family for producing a memorial that did justice to Harmon’s memory and to what Harmon meant to the Minnesota Twins.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses