[1][2] According to family legend, Harmon Killebrew's grandfather was the strongest man in the Union Army, winning every available heavyweight wrestling championship.

[2] As a child, Killebrew played baseball at Walter Johnson Memorial Field, named after the Hall of Fame pitcher who spent part of his childhood in Idaho.

[11][12] On August 23, 1954, Killebrew made his first start in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, hitting two singles and a double as the Senators won, 10–3.

[16][18] Killebrew spent most of the 1957 season with the Southern Association's Chattanooga Lookouts, where he hit a league-high 29 home runs with 101 RBIs and was named to the All-Star Game.

[23] Among his other production, Killebrew drove in a team-leading 122 RBIs, posted a career-best batting average of .288 and had a slugging percentage of over .600 for the only time in his career.

[12][33] On July 18 in a game against the Cleveland Indians, Killebrew and Bob Allison became the first teammates since 1890 to hit grand slams in the same inning as the Twins scored 11 runs in the first.

[36] He started the season off slowly, and he missed the second half of April and early May due to a right knee injury that was slow to heal.

[40] Having played left field for the previous three years with a below-average throwing arm, the additional complication of Killebrew's knee surgery necessitated a move to the infield.

On July 11, the day before the All-Star break, the defending AL champion Yankees had a one-run lead over the Twins going into the bottom of the 9th inning, but Killebrew hit a two-run home run for the win.

[46] During a game against the Orioles, Twins third baseman Rich Rollins made a poor throw to first and while trying to save the play, Killebrew collided with the runner and dislocated his elbow, putting him out of action until mid-September.

During the 1967 season Killebrew hit the then longest home run recorded at Metropolitan Stadium, a June 3 shot off Lew Burdette in the 4th inning that landed in the second deck of the bleachers.

[55] Killebrew finished the season with a .269 batting average and 113 RBIs, tied AL Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski with 44 home runs, and led the league with 131 walks.

[60] During the third inning of the game he stretched for a ball thrown by shortstop Jim Fregosi, his foot slipped, and he did the splits, rupturing his left medial hamstring.

[29][63] On September 7 he topped that mark with a three-run homer and a grand slam in the first two innings, leading the team to another defeat of the Athletics .

[70] He spent most of the season's first half continuing his success, and found Baltimore's Brooks Robinson rivalling him for the third base spot during the All-Star voting process; the two were neck-and-neck throughout.

[71] He continued his success through the second half of the year, and at season's end had hit 41 home runs with 113 RBIs and finished third in MVP voting behind teammate and runner-up Tony Oliva and Baltimore's Boog Powell.

[77] Despite not making the team, Killebrew's home run total continued to climb, and by the end of July he had Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle's career marks in his sights;[78] he went on to pass both in August.

A month later, the injury had not cleared up, and he underwent surgery to remove some torn cartilage; he did not return to the lineup until mid-September.

Killebrew was known for his quick hands and exceptional upper-body strength, demonstrated by frequent "tape measure" home runs he hit in the prime of his career.

[92] On May 24, 1964, Harmon hit the longest measured homer at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, 471 feet (144 m) to deep left center.

In 1984, Killebrew received 83.1% of the vote and was elected to the Hall in his fourth year of eligibility, joining Luis Aparicio and Don Drysdale as electees.

[100] The street along the south side of the Mall of America, the former site of Metropolitan Stadium, in Bloomington, Minnesota, is named "Killebrew Drive" in his honor.

Banners that hung above the Metrodome's outfield upper deck, resembling baseball cards, showed the retired numbers: Killebrew (3), Rod Carew (29), Tony Oliva (6), Kent Hrbek (14) and Kirby Puckett (34).

[105][106] Killebrew is the model for the logo of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, an organization he helped found in 1982.

[107]Following his retirement, Killebrew was a television broadcaster for the Twins at WTCN TV from 1976 to 1978, the Oakland Athletics from 1979 to 1982, the California Angels in 1983 and back with Minnesota from 1984 to 1988.

Thompson was a Twins teammate who continued his major league career while suffering from leukemia; he died in December 1976 at the age of 29.

[114] While still an active major leaguer, Killebrew became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and never smoked or drank.

[120][121] On May 13, 2011, a Minnesota Twins press release reported he was ceasing treatment and entering hospice care, because his illness had progressed beyond his doctors' expectation of cure.

Harmon will long be remembered as one of the most prolific home run hitters in the history of the game and the leader of a group of players who helped lay the foundation for the long-term success of the Twins franchise and Major League Baseball in the Upper Midwest.

However, more importantly Harmon's legacy will be the class, dignity and humility he demonstrated each and every day as a Hall of Fame-quality husband, father, friend, teammate and man.