Idaho.

Experience is made possible with funding from the James and Barbara Cimino Foundation, Anne Voilleque and Louise Nelson, Judy and Steve Meyer, With additional support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

and contributions to the Friends of Idaho Public Television and viewers like you.

Thank you.

Vin Scully: Drysdale gets two quick strikes on Killebrew in the Twins fourth.

Then the killer connects and he knows it's gone.

It sails high and deep into the bleachers for at least a 420ft drive.

Mike Prater, Writer: The eight greatest Idaho athletes ever.

I don't think you can debate who's number one on that list.

Harmon Killebrew, born and raised in Idaho, buried in Idaho, in love with Idaho for his entire life, representing Idaho in one of the most classiest ways you could possibly find.

That's just the beginning.

And it doesn't even include what he accomplished on the baseball field, what he did on the baseball field was so dominant and so amazing.

You put all that together.

Harmon Killebrew is the greatest athlete, the most accomplished athlete that's ever come out of the state of Idaho.

Clyde Doepner, Twins Curator: His nickname was killer.

And I think that that is as far from the truth about his personality.

Kirby Puckett, Retired Baseball Player: What I admire, what.

I like about Carroll, I think, is what everybody else admires about him, is that he is he's genuinely a nice guy.

A.J.

Pierzynski Retired Baseball Player: I saw Harmon go out of his way to talk to people, to kids, to elderly, to fans.

And he he was just incredible.

He was so nice.

And he was so gracious with his time.

And he's honestly one of my favorite people I ever met in my life.

Nita Killebrew, Harmons wife: He just felt like there was such more important things than just baseball.

And helping each other was top on his list.

He was a very compassionate person.

and loved to help people.

Harmon Killebrew: The most important reason that we're here on Earth is to to love and help one another.

Nita Killebrew: He wanted every moment to count, and he felt like we should use our time wisely.

He always did.

He cared about people more than fame.

And I think that's what made him so lovable.

Chris Berman, ESPN Anchor: His legacy lives on.

Not because he hit 573 homers, because they're making advances on leukemia every year.

Mark Johnson, Former KTVB Anchor: The state of Idaho will forever be linked together with this legendary, behemoth of a man, by the name of Harmon Killebrew.

Newsreel narrartor: In its half century in the American League Washington has had one superstar, Walter Johnson.

He came from Coffeeville, Kansas, but was discovered in Idaho.

Killebrew comes from Payette, Idaho.

Mike Prater: Born in Payette, 1936, to this beautiful family of of athletic genes, military discipline, strength, raw power.

Idaho brute.

Harmon Killebrew got his first baseball glove when he was eight years old in Payette, Idaho,.

He played knot hole baseball.

He played American Legion baseball.

He played high school baseball.

He played summer baseball.

And by the time he was 17, he was playing Major League Baseball.

Are you kidding me?

And that's just where that story begins.

Mark Johnson: Harmon was this baseball phenom.out of Payette High School that just tore up every single pitcher he ever faced.

And he was one of those kids that could do it all.

Mike Prater: This kid with just his beast of arms.

He competed in football, basketball, baseball, and track.

Doepner: So when they picked the high school All-American football team his senior year, he was one of the 50 players.

And when you think one of the greatest baseball players of all time did not receive a baseball scholarship, he received football scholarships.

It attests a little bit to the quality of athlete that he was.

U.S.

Senator Herman Welter is given credit for finding Harmon Killebrew.

Ossie Bluege was smart enough to sign him.

Herman Welker was a US senator from Idaho, and he kept telling Clyde Griffith, the owner of the Senators, we got a kid back home better than anybody playing for you.

Clark Griffith got tired of hearing about it.

So he told Ossie Bluege, Ossie, will you please go out to Payette and look at this guy?

I gotta shut him up.

He won't let go.

Mark Heleker, former Payette Mayor: He came out to see a game when Harmon was playing for the Packers.

It was a wet night and they thought maybe it was going to be canceled.

But luckily the rain stopped and they said they burned gasoline on the field to dry it out and stuff.

I believe it was his first at bat.

He hits a ball over the left center field that ball's just didn't go over.

Harmon Killebrew: That night I really got a hold of one.

I hit it over that left field fence and I landed in a beet field.

Heleker: Later in the game he got up and hit one that, according to the scout, was hit even farther.

Bluege went out the next day and measured it.

His measurement came up to 435ft He immediately calls Mr.

Griffith and says we have to sign him.

Harmon Killebrew: And I signed that contract, and I left from this train station here in Fayette and went to the big leagues.

Clyde Doepner: Four days later.

He's in his first Major League game, it was pinch runner.

You know, he was a bonus baby and he was a baby.

He was 17.

He couldn't even sign his own contract.

His mother had to sign his first contract because his dad died at the start of his senior year.

He had to stay on the major league roster for two years,.

Mark Johnson: There was some rule in the majors that if you gave someone, a prospect a bonus, he had to play in the majors for two years.

So he was only going to be 17, then 18 and then 19 before he could finally even go to the minor leagues.

Mark Johnson: Harmon played two years in the bigs for the Senators, didn't play a lot, had minimal success.

And the next year, after his second year, they sent him down to the minors.

And he kind of had this up and down period between minor leagues and the big club.

Until their third baseman got hurt.

Harmon got the job starting third base and in his fifth year of professional baseball, became a perennial starter and an All Star.

In the flesh he's Harmon Killebrew, same age as the fictional Joe Hardy.

Mike Prater: There's a ten year period where he was the most dominant player in baseball.

And, it happened at a very young age for him.

Mark Johnson: I can still hear the sound of Harmon's bat meeting the ball in my ears.

Whack!

And that 520ft home run that he hit in a game paled in comparison to some of the balls I saw him hit in batting practice.

All 511”, 215 pounds of him with arms the size of your legs, was able to turn on a baseball.

And hit some of the longest balls in the history of Metropolitan Stadium.

Clyde Doepner: June 3rd, 1967.

Harmon Killebrew hit the longest home run at Met Stadium.

The only person to hit a ball in the upper deck The estimates range from 525 to 630 feet.

Harmon told me he had used this bat for 27 days.

It didn't break.

And when it finally did break, they used it to stir the pine tar container that they all used because they believed there was still karma left in the bat that could carry over to the pine tar to other bats.

Mark Johnson: And they commemorated that home run with a seat at the top of the Mall of America.

All in Minnesota Twins red.

That is exactly 520 feet from home base inside the Mall of America, which still exists.

And to this day, you can go to Mall of America and find Harmon Killebrews seat on the top floor of this huge mall.

Doepner: Even then, he was just that special human being.

When he received his MVP award, Joe Cronin is there, President of the American League.

And the fans gave him a standing ovation.

And did Harmon pump his fist?

Did Harmon give this happy face?

Nope.

We have a fantastic photo of Harmon looking to the ground.

I said, Harmon, what were you thinking of?

And he said, I'm just humbled and embarrassed.

I was honored to get the award, but we're there to see a ballgame.

Let's have a ballgame.

He was just that humble that he never really I don't think, even gave himself the credit that he really deserved.

He was just honored to be a kid from Payette that made it to the big leagues at age 17.

And made everybody that predicted good things correct.

And he was very proud of it.

But he understood in baseball.

You fail seven out of ten times and you're in the Hall of Fame.

Announcer: Harmon Killebrew.

Mike Prater: In 1984.

He goes to the Hall of Fame.

The Baseball Hall of Fame in the 80s and 90s was big.

It was a big ceremonial event.

And here's Harmon Killebrew up on stage in 1984, and he gets up there behind the podium and he says a couple of thank yous.

And then the first thing he says after his thank you's is, Harmon Killebrew: I was born and raised in a little town of Idaho called Payette, and when I was eight years old, my father gave me, my first baseball glove.

He was a great athlete.

That's how he opened up his speech.

And he gave this long, beautiful speech.

And it had to do with his baseball career, had to do with his background.

Killebrew: I'll never forget, we used to play a lot of ball out in front of the yard, and my mother would say, you're you're tearing up the grass and digging holes in the front yard.

And my father would say, we're not raising grass here.

We're raising boys.

Prater: He mentioned the state of Idaho 12 times in his Hall of Fame speech, including the opening sentence.

He gave the thank you.

And then he started off by, I'm just a small town kid from Idaho and Payette.

And then he goes on to mention Idaho over and over and over and over again.

The way this guy loved Idaho was so amazing.

And he had this beautiful career with Washington connections, with Minnesota connections.

And he was a rock star in Minnesota.

TV Announcer: It's Late Night with David Letterman.

Tonight Late Night salutes Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew.

Mark Johnson: 1986, two years after Harmon was inducted into the Hall of Fame, David Letterman said, I'm going to devote the entire show to Harmon Killebrew.

David Letterman: Hi there.

Tonight we're going to devote our entire program to one of the greatest baseball players of all time., Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew.

Thanks, Dave.

He had a terrific career.

Mark Johnson: So for one hour, David Letterman did Harmon Killebrew with special appearances by former teammates of him, Bobby Allison.

Had Liberace come on.

David Letterman: Mr.

Showmanship, Liberace.

Mark Johnson: Paul Shaffer and the band did a Harmon Killebrew tribute song.

Paul Shaffer: Harmon Killebrew.

Just say the name.

I start to think about that long home run, a sharp line drive, a dislocated elbow back in 65,.

Harmon Killebrew.

Mark Johnson: Leroy Neiman, one of the most famous painters of the time, painted a huge six by six foot mural of Harmon and David Letterman on the show, and Harmon swinging the bat with that number three Minnesota Twins uniform.

[Music] And David sent a six person crew to Payette, and to Ontario to film an eight minute Harmon Killebrew movie that they ran on the show.

Harmon Killebrew: Hi, I'm Harmon Killebrew.

This is my movie.

Come on, get in.

Clyde Doepner: When you see him on the Letterman show, he could turn everything around to humor about him.

Killebrew: This used to be the old Golden Rule store Now that's the senior citizens.

Hope theyre not waiting for me.

Hi, girls.

How are you?

Nice to see you.

Johnson: It's never been done by any late night show since.

On a sports star.

Not Michael Jordan, not Tiger Woods, not Tom Brady, Harmon Killebrew for one hour.

Clyde Doepner: He has one of the greatest signatures in Major League history.

He said it represents you.

It represents your family.

Nita Killbrew: He took his time and he wanted it to be readable and something that they could cherish.

A.J.

Pierzynski: He says, listen, these people came from all over the world to get your autograph.

The best thing you can do is to write one that they can read so they don't go home and they look at their ball and they say, who the heck is this?

So he said, make sure you spell every letter out and write it as nice as you can.

And I've tried to live by that, I mean my autograph isn't perfect, but it's pretty close.

You can tell who my autograph is.

Nita Killebrew: He just he felt like that was something he could give, give freely and he felt like he was blessed to be able to do that.

Mark Johnson: Never turned down an opportunity for an autograph.

Heleker: He just he didn't want anybody to go home without a signature.

If they were, if they were willing to stand in line and wait for him, he wasn't going to say, sorry, I have to go.

Clyde Doepner: He couldn't say no.

And he said, oh, you didn't have time to get in line?

No, I didnt.

Well, give me that and he'd sign it.

[background conversation] Heleker: Just the nicest person and talk to everybody like they were the most important person in the world.

Killebrew: Well, I met him after he was just retired and we'd go to card shows and he had gotten sick, very, very sick the first year of our marriage and almost died, almost died three times.

Every day was really important to him after that, he felt like God spared him for a reason, and he felt like it was to help other people.

Nita Killebrew, Harmons wife: He just felt like there was such more important things than just baseball.

And helping each other was top on his list.

He was a very compassionate person.

Harmon Killebrew: The most important reason that we're here on Earth is to to love and help one another.

Nita Killebrew: Harmon just had a heart for other people that had less or or needed help, especially special needs people,.

He wanted to do good things for them.

Harmon Killebrew: What's your name?

Hi, John.

I'm Harmon.

Killebrew.

Nice to meet you.

Mike Prater: He did this amazing work across this country, creating the Harmon Killebrew Miracle Fields.

At one point, there was 250 Miracle League organizations in this country, serving more than 200,000 children and special needs adults.

Game Announcer: Katie steps up.

Nita Killebrew: The Miracle League helps kids with disabilities that have, issues that they can't compete.

And so they, actually get to play baseball on a field that's made for them, for their wheelchairs and their walkers.

And, and it allows them to get out and do things that other kids can do normally.

[Game sounds] Alan Pollock, Miracle League: One of Harmon's mottos was every kid plays ball.

So what we do on this field is we get as many special needs kids we can.

We buddy em up.

Today is going to be Payette girls softball.

We buddy em up with a buddy.

They hit and have the time of their life.

[Game sounds] If you watch a game to see the smile on these kids face when they get a touch a base, or touch home plate.

It's it's huge.

Mike Prater: just the simple thought of coming up with this idea of taking the game that I love, and and trying to spread that joy to children, throughout this country, I thought was always a very powerful thing.

And it worked.

I don't say this lightly, but the greatest impact that Harmon Killebrew may have had happened in Sun Valley, Idaho.

And it happened kind of by accident through a teammate and a friend.

Hannah Stauts, KTMT: When he was playing for the Minnesota Twins, he had a teammate named Danny Thompson, who at 27, was diagnosed with leukemia.

He passed, unfortunately, when he was 29 years old.

Harmon had, retired from baseball, moved back to Idaho.

And he and Congressman Ralph Harding, had decided that they wanted to put something together in Danny's honor.

And so they started this golf tournament.

Which originally was called the Danny Thompson Memorial.

They started that with its first year at the Sun Valley Resort.

That was in 1977.

Mark Johnson: Ralph got politicians like Tip O'Neill and Gerald Ford and folks like that to come in.

Harmon got Telly Savalas, got Clint Eastwood, and then also got people like like Kirby Puckett, Sandy Koufax.

Doctor Julius Erving.

He got all of these celebrities to come in and, oh, by the way, if you, want to play in this, here's what it'll cost you in this money goes to cancer.

And here you are in Sun Valley playing three days of a golf tournament.

And all of this money is going to go to leukemia research.

Chris Berman: A tournament to honor a teammate that lost his life to leukemia speaks louder than all those homers.

The tournament is a get together, its friends.

We raise money and it's and it's not a heavy push.

Harmon wouldn't allow that.

It's a I feel good helping.

I feel good here in Sun Valley.

Who wouldn't.

He never put his I don't want my name on it.

Why not?

That would help.

I don't want to take any credit for what we're doing.

What more do you want?

Hannah Stauts: One of my favorite aspects of our tournament each year is we have what we call our our Survivor spotlight.

Every year we have our beneficiaries introduce us to a new patient who has benefited from cancer research,.

We have them come to the event to share their story with our guests about the importance of cancer research and how it's personally benefited them in being the particular type of cancer that they have.

St.

Lukes Patient: I found out I had cancer in April of 2007, and then it was confirmed that it was Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Auctioneer: Every bid counts in the fight against cancer which is why I took that bid.

Sold!

63,000 dollars!

Hannah Stauts: I think our most, moving portion of our four day event is definitely our live auction gala.

To date, we've donated $24.5 million split between our two beneficiaries for cancer research.

News Reporter: Former Congressman Raul Labrador introduced the legislation needed to have the historic post office in Payette, named after the late Harmon Killebrew.

Mike Prater: The post office, it's the it's the Harmon Killebrew post office, for crying out loud, who gets a post office named after him?

That's crazy to me.

Mark Heleker: He was just a great person, great athlete and and somebody that we're very proud to say is from our town.

The trophies out here, we see trophies from when he was a freshman or sophomore and you think, well, I wonder if he got that.

Well yeah, he was the star on those teams too.

Harmon came up, and then it was known for baseball and Harmon Killebrew.

So, yeah, I would say Payette has always kind of been known as a baseball town.

Mark Johnson: And to think that this guy, one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Hall of Famer.

Forever legendary in the circles, in the history books of sport came from Payette, Idaho,.

He is what any of these superstars of today are of his time.

Nita Killebrew: He was just kind and loving.

That was the ultimate to him and to a flaw.

To a flaw, you know, because Harmon would agree with everybody.

You know, because you got you have athletes everywhere and you have egos, you know, and Harmon just didn't carry that ego.

He cared about people more than fame.

Chris Berman: Harmon was one of the nicest, unassuming superstars lve ever met in any sport.

You tell someone that guy hit 573 home runs, like, made, x all star games, and someone who's younger would go.

He did?

He didn't walk around like he did.

That was not Harmon Killebrew.

Harmon Killebrew was a gift.

Clyde Doepner: He just had that nature about him.

Where you really liked being with Harmon Killebrew.

Mark Johnson: Never has been one like him before, and probably never will again.

[music] [Take Me Out to the Ballgame instrumental} Idaho.

Experience is made possible with funding from the James and Barbara Cimino Foundation, Anne Voilleque and Louise Nelson, Judy and Steve Meyer, With additional support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

and contributions to the Friends of Idaho Public Television and viewers like you.

Thank you.