Sweet Swingers: Harmon Killebrew GIF

Sweet swings from The Killer: Harmon Killebrew    

               

A few general impressions...

This was Killebrew yet in his prime.

The top frame is attractive for the imagined mayhem. You never see ball meet bat, nor the trajectory of the pitch, or whom Harmon is batting against. But you can well infer it's bad medicine for whomever's chuckin. Just another sunny day for the fans at Metropolitan Stadium, with The Killer providing the thrills. 

These give just a quick take on the violence of the basic, Killebrew homerun cut. As if he was hacking down a maple. I recall Bloomingtonite Kent Hrbek sitting at a panel of others (Jack Morris, Paul Molitor, Jim Grant) three years ago when Killebrew passed away, and saying that Harmon was like the mythical Paul Bunyan for him as a kid.

Appropriate he would choose an icon central in Minnesota lumbering history in describing the area's favorite "ax-man" of the diamond. For a really great view of that swing, you should pick up the great Red Sox commemorative 1967 DVD, which features the oldest known preserved, full-length, color MLB game on record. Harmon homers for number 44 of the season in game 161(box), and it is the true, typical vicious swing for which he was known.

The second frame gives a bit more context of  "The Fat Kid," at work (see book excerpt below) as Jim Bouton referred to him. In fact, when I first saw the pitcher in the road blue, yellow piping, I immediately thought "Oh...Seattle Pilots, 1969!," but then noticed Harmon's jersey didn't have the MLB 1969 Centennial logo on his right arm sleeve (see photo ABOVE, BELOW), which would date the image from the 1970/71 seasons - which means the opponent was not the Pilots, but their children, the newly transplanted Milwaukee Brewers.

I had said this was Harmon in his prime. A Few stats from BBRef: keep in mind, ye not impressed -  this period was still part and parcel of the pitching rich late-60's. A special player! As a public service OPS & OPS+ are linked to a definition for old dudes like me who've time-traveled in from the '60s, other times unknown, and were fed mostly RBI, jacks, doubles and triples on the backs of their Topps baseball cards :

Year	G ▴	PA	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
1970	157	665	527	96	41	113	128	84	.271	.411	.546	.957	159	288
1969	162	709	555	106	49	140	145	84	.276	.427	.584	1.011	177	324

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table. 

Generated 11/5/2013.   BOLD TYPE = LEAGUE LEADING TOTALS

Killerologists will recall he finished third in the MVP voting in 1970, and took home the heavy hardware in 1969, the only such time he was honored. It will be worth my while to post some more gifs of this subject. Yes, there are a few in the pipeline, and the world awaits.

It's the least I can do for the player who taught me it was okay to eat Old Dutch chips in the dugout during a game.

To sign off in typical Herb Carneal Fashion:
"So long everybody!"

Classic Twins Game of the Week: Dave Winfield's 3,000th Hit Game: Sept. 16, 1993

UPDATED: Tues., Oct. 8, 2013

                Winfield squares up pitch  from Dennis Eckersley  for his 3000th hit

Dave, like Graig Nettles in previous post, also played for the
Alaska Goldpanners as an amateur, in 1971-72
 ( Photo by Brian Peterson Minneapolis Star Tribune)

                 

Dave Winfield, the three-sport standout alumni of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers,  came back to Minnesota after 20 years to become a member of the 1993 Minnesota Twins. After a prolonged slump that late season, he finally connected for his milestone hit; only 18 other players had accomplished the feat to that time. A poignant photo is below, from that Thursday night, Sept. 16, 1993 ( see BB Ref. box ) game against the Oakland Athletics. That Kirby Puckett ( who scored on the hit ) was one of the first players to congratulate Dave Winfield after his milestone hit reminds me of an interesting circumstance. Had he remained healthy into the first week of the 1996 season, only he, Rick Aguilera, and Chuck Knoblauch would have earned the distinction of being the only Twins to play with the era's 3 outstanding players from St. Paul, Minnesota and had Hall of Fame - calibre careers: Jack Morris in 1991, Winfield in 1993-1994, and Paul Molitor in 1996. Alas, that was never to happen when he woke up the morning of March 31, 1996 with a black dot in his right eye. Glaucoma robbed him of that opportunity, forcing his retirement later that season. As a footnote: The Twins won that game, 5-4.

                          Greeting big Dave near first base: Puckett, a smirking Scott Erickson, Brian Harper 
                           behind Erickson, Willie Banks behind Kirby. Jeff Reboulet (#17), out of camera holding 
                  helmet, Pat Mahomes looks up at video board. (this photo & others: Fri., Sept. 17, 1993 Star Tribune)                    

Speaking of videos: watch this while you can before MLB has it scrubbed from You Tube [ note: the suits did just that, not long after this posting...the fun squashers thus took away your view of Dave's at bat in its entirety!].  It's nice to hear long time Twins announcer Dick Bremer on the call.

Winfield was showing signs of pressure in the attempt to reach his goal - if not the signs of encroaching age and the diminishment of his skills. At the link, see the averages over the stretch of his previous 20 games before Sept. 16, along with the log of games before his hit on the 16th:

Much like Harmon Killebrew's struggle to breach the No. 500 HR barrier during the 1971 season, this period for Winfield was a testament to the fact that he was now into the "September" of his career. In other words, it was an excruciatingly long-ass crawl to the 3,000 hit finish line for him...I hope you like this Minneapolis Star Trib feature from the day

Go ahead, click on photo, view larger version and others in 

this post for greater detail!

I will be adding more commentary to this post shortly. 

As our old friend at the mic, Herb Carneal, would have said, "...And the count rides along." - TT

Click on graphic of quotes to see unobstructed view!

I'll never forget the sight of Nolan Ryan knocking

down Winfield and Rickey Henderson in the '85 

All-Star Game, which I attended at the Hubert H. Humphry 

Metrodome in Minneapolis.  At the time, I really didn't 

understand his motivation  - but this bit of history in their

background might shed some light on that. See Ryan's

comments below...you can also judge his actions
in context with his beating the snot (MLB Video) out of
  Robin Ventura in 1993 when he charged Ryan in Texas.

TonyO, His Statue, and The National Anthem Done Well

Opening Day, 2011. Along with the classic pitcher's duel supplied by starters Carl Pavano of the Twins and Brett Anderson of the Oakland Athletics (and a save by returning closer Joe Nathan) in yesterday's 2-1 win, there was the wistful, great unveiling of Tony Oliva's statue outside of Target Field. Tony made it a classic, speaking from the heart his gratitude for the people that helped him in life, and for the art of sculptor, Bill Mack. For so many of us, Tony is our all-time greatest Twin. You have to agree with Tony: Mack DID make him look so good! Then again, the artist was already given a wonderful subject to work with - the Oliva swing was art unto itself.





Photo from mid-1960's Twins yearbook.

 There's a reason why Tony Oliva was considered by fans and baseball Hall of Famers alike as being one of the select, great hitters of the 1960's. He won three batting titles in an era that had vastly reduced statistical numbers - the time was ruled by the pitchers, who could deliver from a 15-inch high mound. Now it is 10-inches. Why is that significant? It's physics. The pitcher has more leverage on a higher mound while the greater angle produced from the higher mound makes it more difficult to hit the ball squarely (see excellent Harold Friend article at Suite101.com for more on this discussion). What was a .320 batting average then would be good for .350 or better in today's hitter-friendly time. Despite those conditions, you could count on Tony to either line one over the third baseman's head, hit a blue darter into the gap in rightfield, or outright bomb one over the centerfield fence.

But those were yesterday's glories.  The present has arrived to give the man his due, and not just for him - it is to create a collective joy, for us all. Again, there is the art...

Below is a nice video from Rick Prescott (from the BallPark Magic site) of  yesterday's National Anthem performance by singer Maria Versalles and guitarist Rick Oliva. They, of course, are the children of Twins greats Zoilo Versalles and Tony O. Nice touch! Watch for the well-timed jet flyover at the end! Rick also posted this wonderful video of Tony's speech, from another perspective.  You can see Jerry Bell, Dave St. Peter, Juan Berenguer, et. al., joining in the festivities honoring Tony.  Well done, Rick!




Here are two wonderfully filmed videos. First is an opening day "from the ballpark" sights and sounds piece, then another(from Rick Oliva's vaults!) from the Sept. 3, 2010 Twins legends game. Look for Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, and Jack Morris in the clip. As a Star Spangled Banner connoisseur, I really enjoy the rendition - stylish, without the overblown production as rendered by so many singers (see "cater walling," "Christina Aguilera"). A Twins Treat!

Opening Day - Beautiful Stuff!

2011 MN Twins Opening Day // Target Field from capture studios on Vimeo.



What a treasure that Tony Oliva is!
As Herb would say "...and the count rides along..."
TT