Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Hall of Fame baseball slugger Harmon Killebrew has died after a long battle with esophageal cancer at age 74.
Killebrew died peacefully Tuesday at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife Nita and their family at his side.
Last week, Killebrew announced that doctors had deemed his cancer incurable and he would no longer fight it, and he entered Hospice care.
The Minnesota Twins slugger was known for his tape-measure home runs. He hit 573 homers during his 22-year career, 11th-most in major league baseball history. Killebrew's eight seasons with 40 or more home runs is tied for second in league history behind only the legendary Babe Ruth.
Killebrew began his pro career at age 18 with the Washington Senators, and in his first full season with the club in 1959 he smashed 42 home runs. When the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, Killebrew – nicknamed Killer – was its first star. He helped power the team to its first World Series appearance in 1965.
He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1969 when he hit 49 home runs, batted in 140 runs and walked 149 times. Those remain Minnesota team records.
Killebrew was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. In all, he played in 2,435 games with 1,584 runs batted in and an average of .256.
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