That was too fast. He was everybody's hero of my generation (I'm 51). The greatest Twin of all time.

I'm too young to have seen him play but it has been really fun to hear my uncle (Killer was his favorite) talk about him. A true ambassador to baseball and the Twins and always a class act.

I know it is probably bad of me to think of something so soon, but I figured I would say it anyway.

Are the Twins going to honor Harmon on their jersey's the rest of the season? Wait until next year? I think it would be cool to do it right away. Maybe the spirit of the Killer can right this ship.

You can be sure they will wear a memorial "3" patch on their sleeves as soon as they are able.

They will probably wear black bands tonight around their sleeves tonight.

Also wouldn't surprise me if they paint some 3's on the field at Target Field

He was iconic. You only needed to mention his first name in this state and everyone knew who you meant. As the sad news spread this morning, I wonder how many fans said, texted or e-mailed that "Harmon" had died. Let the rest of the country talk about "Harmon Killibrew"; to us he was "Harmon".

Simply, one of the best men to ever play the game.

Harmon meant so much to those early Twins years. Not sure if it's right - haven't thought it completely through - but perhaps lowering the 1965 AL pennant and the 1969 and 1970 West Division flags to half-staff for some length of time?

I'm too young to have ever seen him play but being a baseball history guy when you think of certain teams you think of certain players. Cubs - Banks, Giants - Mays, Braves - Aaron, Red Sox - Williams. My generation thinks Twins - Puckett, but for anyone who knows the history of the game: Twins - Killer. When I went to the game this past Sunday I thought it was great how people were leaving flowers and other dedications to Harmon at his statue. I'm sure there will be many more the next few days. If any of you walk by, let me know or snap a picture. If I lived closer, I'd go see for myself.

A 3 is being painted on the infield dirt behind second base right now.

My grandmother had life-size Killebrew poster on the inside of her closet door when she passed 20 years ago at the age of 96.

"You can be sure they will wear a memorial "3" patch on their sleeves as soon as they are able."

In the same sense that most, if not all, tributes and notices were written at least a few a days ago so that they would be ready, I would imagine that the plans for uniforms have already been made and the patches exist.

I've been thinking about a 1985 All-Star game event with Harmon and Sandy Koufax. Glad to see it discussed in this Strib article: http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/122036779.html

I was there. It was something of a flop that's for sure. They were suppose to have Koufax pitch to Harmon -- but as the writer notes there was no way to do that with many, many people milling around and no specific area cordoned off. If Koufax had pitched to Harmon, Harmon might have hit a ball that would have killed someone. So Harmon did toss balls up and try to hit them over the river -- but there was no way that was possible. The area they used is a park now, but then it was undeveloped with just weeds and dirt all over the place. Quite an odd scene for two Hall of Famers, and not very well organized at all. Mostly though I remember Harmon being good natured and trying to put a good face on the event, while Koufax was plainly irritated and grumpy.

Ben, you are correct, DSP confirmed that they will in fact be wearing a memorial patch on their sleeves beginning with tonight's game in Seattle.

They will also paint one of those infamous "Harmon Killebrew" signatures on the outfield wall at Target Field.

Obviously the Twins knew this was coming so they had time to make those plans and order the patches so they can be worn tonight.

When someone dies unexpectedly, teams will usually wear a temporary black band around their sleeve or something similar until a patch is made.

I don't think we'll ever see a swing and follow through like Harmon's ever again. Everything about it said, "Power." I've been told, but can't confirm it, that the Major League Baseball logo is actually the white silhouette of Harmon at the plate. Does anyone know for sure?

"Does anyone know for sure?"

It is widely believed to be Killer - Harmon has said he was one of the models. MLB, for whatever reasons, will not confirm.

Reusse and Mackey (spelling?) said on the KSTP ESPN radio this afternoon that a number 3 will be on the jersey sleeves. Added to the already made decision to wear the golden-era 1961 jerseys at home for the remainder of the season in his honor.

Wiki states, "The silhouette was chosen specifically because of its ambiguity: the batter could be right- or left-handed and of any ethnic background."

I am a left-handed batter, but always saw the silhouette as a right-handed batter. If I squint my eyes and look to the side, I barely can visualize it as a left-handed batter...

""I was in the commissioner's office one day in the late 1960s," Killebrew said. "I can't remember the specifics, but I think it had something to do with a litho they were doing for the National Kidney Foundation. Anyway, I walked through the back part of the office, and there was a man sitting at a table. He had a photograph of me in a hitting position, and he had one of those grease pencils that you see at a newspaper, and he was marking that thing up. I said, 'What are you doing with that?' and he said they were going to make a new Major League Baseball logo. I never thought any more about it. And then the logo came out and it did look like me. The only change was the angle of the bat -- they changed that to kind of make it fit more into the design."

Being of the Puckett Generation I look forward to listening to my Dad's Killebrew stories while throwing back a few beers in his honor this weekend.

Thanks for being the foundation of the greatest Sports Franchise in Minnesota Harmon!

They did a moment of silence for Harmon pregame at the Fort Worth (Texas) Cats game tonight.

And, what connection would there have been to an AA team in Fort Worth?

I can't believe it...the Twins actually WON a game? The world must definitely be coming to an illustrious end very soon.

Ask, and ye shall receive I guess. Apparently the world IS coming to an end this weekend :{. Clicky.

Sorry, Luke, I'm not buying that.

Besides, I've got tickets to the game on Monday. ;-)

Garry Trudeau has been having fun in "Doonesbury" lampooning the End-of-the-World crowd. I've still got about 16 games left on my 20 game pasckage for this year so the world can't end on Saturday.

I'm not buying it either, I just thought it was funny. Ludicrous. Off-the-wall.

It better not happen, I have a date weekend with my gf this weekend...lol. I wanna be HERE for that.

Luke, there doesn't have to be a connection between the AA team in Fort Worth and Killebrew. All of baseball is recognizing the passing of a great baseball legend and even greater man.

And, what connection would there have been to an AA team in Fort Worth?

It's a baseball team. All of baseball is mourning today.

Very classy gesture by the Mariners organization last night, honoring a player most identified as a Twin. Well done, Seattle.

Watching on tv last night, the game seemed so much more personal. I'm really glad our guys got the win yesterday, it just seemed so right.

awesome story, Thanks for posting it Rick

Wow that allstar game had alot of true allstars in it to bad I was a little to young to see it.I doubt we will see anything like Harmon in baseball again he was one of a kind on and off the field.

Once upon a time professional baseball players, even the best of them, were not paid grotesque salaries. They lived in middle class neighborhoods. They had "regular" jobs in the off season and drove sedans. They were approachable and could be counted upon for the time of day. Those days are long gone. And now so is a great example of that era.

Killebrew used to bring his cracked bats home and hand them out. All the neighborhood kids had at least one bat. The one I had I tried to tighten back up with screws and use which, of course, didn't work out so well. The bat is long gone but the memories remain, including that of being rewarded for a short bike ride and under the fence crawl by watching one of the Killer's towering fly balls that seemed to take forever to reach the stands and return to earth. Maybe being an old fart isn't such a bad deal after all.

A senior VP where my wife works found himself seated next to the Killer on a plane to Boise. They talked baseball the entire flight. Among other things the VP told Killebrew about one of the directors at work who goes to lots of games and is a long time Twins fan. A few days later a large envelope arrived at our door. Inside, between two pieces of cardboard was a piece of simple notebook paper upon which was written: "Paula --- keep pulling for the Twins" and signed as neatly as can be by Harmon. His like does not often pass this way.

Harmon will be surly missed to the disabled and Twins community. RIP, #3
Click my name for an article I wrote about Harmon.

Here we go again...

Quote of the night from Dick, "Butera, who had a hit a couple days ago..."

did he end the quote with...

"...might get one more this season."?

Dave St. Peter on the spruce-icide: "they made me do it". Click on my name for link.

Bring Back the Trees.

he topped it with...

"Butera is a singles hitter."

good one Dick.

he meant to say "Butera is a horseshit hitter."

But he learned from the Blyleven incident in NY.

Nathan's back? Well, at least his scare tactics!

Can we forget about the stupid trees? Is it really that big of a deal that they took them out? Seriously, people need to get over it.

Suppose this was Gardy's pregame speech yesterday?

Jared,

After you watched that scene, was the next video recommended the Harry Potter "deleted scenes"? HA!

I quoted that story above - obviously the basis for the widespread belief that the Killer, himself, held. This has been the case for years, why didn't MLB weigh in on the matter? You don't suppose it was thought cheaper to pay off some designer once than to pay royalties to a ballplayer long term?

TK - That was the next video! not sure how the heck they are related but whatever.

FYI - Target Field wins Sports Facility of the Year.

Jared, when I first read your post I thought it was referring to my post immediately above. That would be a heck of a Gardy pre-game speech: "Can we forget about the stupid trees? Is it really that big of a deal that they took them out? Seriously, people need to get over it."

Rene Rivera homered?? Maybe the world really is coming to an end Saturday.

Clark- Oops! Sorry. I thought about it right after I posted that i should have mentioned the link just in case but decided not to make a second post. However, hearing gardy make a speech about the trees would have been great.

3 HR's for #3?

lol terry. That, coupled with a mini winning streak for the guys, it could be very possible.

This team is actually starting to show some signs of life.

Pitching, hitting and some defense. Whoda thunk?

F_T_K, I was thinking the same thing. It is almost like it took this team to be worse than what people expected to start doing what they do well, surprise people with their play.

In no way am I insinuating that our hometown boy's are back, but they sure looked confident celebrating at the mound after the game this evening.

7 games out of first... and it's May.

(I consider Detroit in first... Cleveland doesn't count.)

3 in a row? Maybe the world is ending on Saturday haha! Go Twins!

This is sort of hard to say, but I think our 2nd best option for the token All-star game member (if Kubel continues to go south) may be Glen Perkins. Glad to see some signs of life...it is a shame they played like crap on that last homestand...even .500 on it, and we'd be with the Sox. I have a hard time not believing the Indians are for real at this point.

twinswschamps2027 (aka twinswschamps2011), we would still be 1.5 games behind Chicago if we would have won 3 of 5 on our last home-stand.

The Target building is going to reintroduce their Northern Lights display on top of the 34-story structure.

I believe this will be visual from part of the skyline view seating. It will be interesting to see it in action at night again, only this time it looks more technological and brighter.

Click name for story

Maybe I am getting my buildings mixed up...

Thanks for the story TK. Why is it that I don't ever remember the Northern Lights display? How long has it been out of commission? Report made it seem like it's only been a few months...

I had never heard called the Northen Lights display, but I have always found it cheesy and sad looking for the headquarters of Target. Especially when compared to Wells Fargo Place, which is classy and elegant.

Quote from Bert's Eulogy today: "When a home run is hit, Twins radio announcer John Gordon makes the call, 'Touch them all'. Harmon Killebrew, you touched us all."

Nice service. Eulogy from kids, grandkids, Bert and a statment passed along from fellow golfers from Scotland. Very kind words preaching the man and his kindness more than the legend and his greatness. Sounds like the entire team was going. Gardy, Morneau, Nathan, Cuddy and Rod Carew were shown in the front rows. The rest of the guys must have been back a few rows. Quite a few people there, good to see the support.

They said that Hank Aaron is scheduled to appear at the Memorial Service next Thursday at Target Field...It is going to be one big celebration of the life of Harmon! #3

Hank Aaron???! Serious???

the Cuddyer HR in the second...

are you kidding me?

Look at that swing... and look at the statue of Harmon at Target Field.

is Dick drunk?

"that'll bring up Dusty Hughes." he meant Luke.

earlier, he said "it's a 1-0 Twins lead"... and it was 2-1.

I'm bordering on drunk... and I noticed this.

Can we make it 4 in a row?

Tough loss, but I am satisfied with our play at the end. Butera double? Too bad Kubel could have popped one up, or Morneau's swing couldn't have been just a little harder on that grounder.

One reason for that meltdown, front office off-season laziness. We all knew this bullpen would suck...except maybe Bill Smith.

Well, this is disheartening: The world didn't explode in a ball of fire, nobody got "taken up", and the Twins lost last night,

As they say, "back to normal".

Don't give up hope, Luke. You've still got today. Besides, the texts from which this Harold Camping guy bases his prediction on were written halfway around the world, so maybe his prediction is off by 12 hours.
Better safe than sorry, though. If anyone is flying anywhere today, insist on an atheist pilot.

The Twins want everyone to wear the number 3 to the game Monday - they have, no doubt, laid in a good supply of jerseys, etc.

Hello? Is there anybody left to read this board? Have I been left behind?

I am still around, was off buying a #3 jersey like I have been instructed by the all powerful front office.

Whew! I was afraid I was the only person left to wander a God-forsaken hellscape after The Rapture.

lol Dr. X - no you wouldn't have. Many of my friends (and me too probably) are very likely on the "Left Behind" list.

I don't know Dr. X - maybe you and I are the only two people left...no one's commented here in several hours...lol.

The rapture knocked out my DirecTV for the pregame.

I was left wailing and gnashing my teeth.

Grand slam. I think I might get sick. And I'm sober.

I'm not sober anymore, after that Grand-slam.... and Delmon 'dumb-dumb' Young is purely horrible. Just play Revere there from now on... he seems to hit better too.

3-game winnings streak, followed by a 6-game losing streak?

Too bad this season can't be 144 games like our awesome 1995 season...

This is the kool aid we'll be needing in order to watch this garbage.