If you haven’t heard already Harmon Killebrew is in the final days of his life. His fight against esophageal cancer has taken a turn for the worse. He has ended his cancer treatment, and his family has moved him to a hospice. My grandfather passed away in a hospice and whenever I hear about people being moved to a hospice, it definitely reminds me back to when my grandfather past away.
He was one of the first 500 home run hit club members I ever met. It was in 1981 in Freehold, New Jersey where they assembled all the 500 Home Run Club (minus the dead members of course) and members and 3000 Hit Club members. This first guy I met was Harmon and he was quite cordial. As a ten year old, he was larger than life and I always remembered that meeting, it made me a fen of his cards for life.
Killebrew is a Hall of Fame player who amassed enough home runs to place him 11th overall in MLB history. He is an immortal in the eyes of Twins fans and remains one of the most popular Twins players in history. He has always been a highly collectible athlete and now more than ever his stuff is going to fly. It’s sad that it takes something like this to make people realize how great a player someone was.
Harmon has one of the best signatures in the business. Hopefully his last days will be pain free.