#400 Harmon Killebrew - Minnesota Twins

Harmon Clayton Killebrew
Minnesota Twins
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195
Born:  June 29, 1936, Payette, ID
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent, June 19, 1954
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1954-1960; Minnesota Twins 1961-1974; Kansas City Royals 1975
Died:  May 17, 2011, Scottsdale, AZ (age 74)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1984

Harmon Killebrew was one of the most prolific sluggers of his era, and upon his retirement he was fourth on the major league all-time home run list and second to Babe Ruth in the American League.  Killebrew led the league six times in home runs and three times in RBIs.  He was a 13-time All-Star and received MVP votes in 11 different seasons.  He helped lead the Twins to the their first pennant in 1965, and while he hit .286 in the World Series, the Dodgers prevailed in seven games.  In 1967, he hit the longest home run ever recorded at Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium at 520 feet.  Killebrew attained career highs in home runs (49) and RBIs (140) in 1969 and won the league's MVP honors that season.  He wrapped up his 22-year big league career with a final season with the Royals, serving as the team's designated hitter.  When the Royals visited Minnesota in early May 1975, the Twins held a pre-game ceremony to retire Killebrew's #3.  He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1984, and was in the inaugural class of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2000.  In 2,435 games, Killebrew accumulated 2,086 hits while batting .256.  He hit 573 career home runs to go along with 1,584 RBIs.

After retiring as a player, Killebrew served as a broadcaster for the Twins, Athletics and Angels between 1976 and 1988.  He also briefly served as a hitting instructor with the Athletics.  Nicknamed "Killer" on the field, by all accounts Killebrew was one of the kindest and most well-respected men to ever play the game.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #547

This is the 63rd of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March.  We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room.  Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders.  Much to my pleasant surprise, they had.

I found 49 commons and semi-stars we needed for our set in the two neon green binders of 1965 Topps cards at Uncle Dick's.  Having reached the end of the binders, I asked if there were any star cards from the set available for my perusal, and of course there were.  I found this Killebrew card along with the Mel Stottlemyre (#550) in a modest stack of star cards, and I offered a bundled price for the two, less than the original combined price, and the dealer accepted.  Having once again wiped out Uncle Dick's stock of needed 1965 Topps cards, we wandered the show room floor a little longer before I settled in for the next bulk purchase of commons.

The Card / Twins Team Set
This is Killebrew's third appearance in the set, as he appeared on the A.L. home run (#3) and RBI league leaders (#5) cards back in series one.  The cartoon on the back celebrates his third straight home run title in 1964.  I've seen this card in magazines, books and at baseball card shows over the past 40 years and it's been one of those iconic baseball cards in my mind that perfectly represents the era.  I was surprised to find the card has only ever been reprinted once, as part of the 2015 Topps Cardboard Icons 5 x 7 series that reprinted all of Killebrew's Topps flagship cards.

1965 Season
Ranked by Baseball Reference WAR, this was Killebrew's seventh best season, but his numbers were still impressive.  He was the opening day first baseman for the Twins and voted as the starting first baseman for the American League All-Stars, making his seventh All-Star Game appearance.  Killebrew homered in the game off Jim Maloney (#530) in front of his hometown crowd at Metropolitan Stadium.

He was batting .278 with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs when he suffered a gruesome arm injury on August 2nd.  In a game agains the Orioles, Russ Snyder (#204) bunted down the third base line and ran into Killebrew's outstretched right arm as he crossed first base.  Killebrew had dislocated his elbow and he missed seven weeks of crucial playing time.  Still, the Twins stayed in the race and Killebrew returned to the line-up on September 21st.  He played in 113 games overall, batting .269 during the regular season with 25 home runs and 75 RBIs.  Despite the injury, he still finished 15th in the league's MVP voting.  Killebrew was one of the Twins' top hitters in the World Series, collecting six hits including a Game 4 home run.

1955 Topps #124

1962 Topps #70

1966 Topps #120

1969 Topps #375

1975 Topps #640

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #124
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20):  1955-1956, 1958-1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Opening Day Bomb Squad #BS-2

1,858 - Killebrew non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/1/22.

Sources:  
1956 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #399 Ray Herbert - Philadelphia Phillies

Next Card:  #401 Carl Willey - New York Mets

#5 1964 A.L. RBI Leaders - Robinson, Stuart, Mantle & Killebrew

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
December 25, 2020 from Las Vegas, NV - Card #197

This is one of 32 cards (mostly commons) I received from Jenna and our sons on Christmas morning, as I was asked to do some surrogate shopping on their behalf and I gladly obliged.  Hunting specifically for first series cards, this was the biggest card added and the final "star" card needed in order to complete the first series set.  I purchased this card at what I thought was a reasonable price from eBay seller mmartin9, the same seller who sold me the Whitey Ford (#330) card in October.  This was the last of the League Leaders cards needed, and the 12 cards look fantastic all together in 9-pocket binder pages.

The Card
Four of the seven American League sluggers to cross the 100-RBI threshold in 1964 are featured on this card with Rocky Colavito (#380), Joe Pepitone (#245) and Leon Wagner (#367) just missing the cut.  Brooks Robinson's (#150) 118 RBIs marked a career high and the only time he finished with a league-leading total.  The 1964 A.L. MVP would finish in the league's top ten eight different times, never finishing in the top three again after 1964.

Dick Stuart (#280) had led the league with 118 RBIs in 1963, and his 114 RBIs in 1964 marked the third and final time during his career that he'd drive in at least 100 runs.  Stuart was traded to the Phillies after the 1964 season for pitcher Dennis Bennett (#147).  I'll keep track of this as I collect more cards in the set, but I think he's the only person to appear on two cards on two different teams within the 1965 Topps set.  The pricey-ness of this card is caused by Mickey Mantle's (#350) presence.  1964 was to be Mantle's final year with a high RBI tally, and the fourth and final time he had at least 100 RBIs.  Mantle had led the league previously in 1956 with 130 RBIs in one of his three MVP years.

Harmon Killebrew (#400) was just getting started.  He'd finish his career with a staggering nine seasons of driving in at least 100 runs or more, leading the league in 1962, 1969 and 1971.  

Orioles Team Set / Red Sox Team Set / Yankees Team Set / Twins Team Set  

Previous Card:  #4 1964 N.L. Home Run Leaders

Next Card:  #6 1964 N.L. RBI Leaders

#3 1964 A.L. Home Run Leaders - Killebrew, Powell & Mantle

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
April 29, 2020 from Olney, MD - Card #92

In the middle of the sixth week of the coronavirus lockdown, I decided I needed some cardboard therapy.  The last card I had added for our set was back in the beginning of April when I went searching for the Al Kaline (#130) card upon his passing.  With no clear direction in mind, I went out to eBay and decided I'd pool my budget together for a few of the bigger cards in the set.  I browsed aimlessly until deciding on a reasonable strategy for my search - I'd look for cards in the order we needed them.  We already have cards #1 and #2, so I started looking for cards #3 and #4.  If I use this strategy again, I might start going backwards too, looking for cards #598, #597, etc.  I realize I'm lucky I can still buy baseball cards at this time and I don't take it for granted that I'm able to do so.  I'd like to think that buying these few cards is also helping the sellers in some small way.

This card is the priciest of the league leaders cards as it features Mickey Mantle (#350).  I bought this from a seller in Olney, MD on a Sunday and the card arrived at our house on Wednesday.  The price I paid for it was fair and the happiness it brought me upon its arrival was immediate and much needed.

At the end of April, the end of the lockdown was still no where in sight, although some states had started to (most likely prematurely) ease restrictions.  My family was safe and healthy and we had settled into our new routine, only leaving the house for walks, to play outside or to venture to the grocery store.  What a strange, stressful and scary time.

The Card
The A.L. Batting Leaders card (#1) features the same three teams as this card, in the same order, but with three different players - Tony Oliva (#340), Brooks Robinson (#150) and Elston Howard (#450).  Rather than displaying each player's team name next to their names, I would have preferred Topps gave us their leading totals on the fronts of these cards.  Harmon Killebrew (#400) had 49 home runs, and it was the fourth time he had led the league in this category.  He'd top the league twice more in 1967 and 1969, with the 49 home runs he hit in 1964 and 1969 representing career highs.

Boog Powell (#560) had 39 home runs, a career high for him, and this was the closest he'd ever come to leading the league.  He had seven top 10 finishes in the home run category between 1964 and 1975.  Mantle's 35 home runs would be the last time the slugger surpassed the 30-home run plateau in his career.  He had previously led the league in 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1960.  He hit home run #35 on September 30th, breaking the tie he had with Rocky Colavito (#380).  Colavito had hit his 34th home run of the season on September 29th and had Mantle not connected on the 30th, he would have been squeezed into the bottom row of this card with Powell and Mantle.

Flipping to the back, it's cool that Topps decided to include every A.L. batter who had hit a grand slam in 1964.

Twins Team Set / Orioles Team Set / Yankees Team Set

Previous Card:  #2 1964 N.L. Batting Leaders

Next Card:  #4 1964 N.L. Home Run Leaders