Killebrew is often described as one of the giants of the game. No one has such quite such a literal understanding of the phrase as I do. When I was 10 years old, I had the opportunity to meet Harmon Killebrew. During the brief window between his career as a player and that as a broadcaster, Rick Manning spent some time working with my father. Through Rickey my dad and I were given just a touch of behind the scenes access at an event where both Manning and Killebrew were signing autographs. My father was able to have a conversation with Killebrew while all I can recall is shaking the man's hand. His mammoth paw completely enveloped mine. This is not an overstatement, not the misremberance of a child dealing with adult things, Killebrew's hands were immense. I stood there, dumbfounded, as he asked me my name. I was so shocked at the gargantuan grip that I feared my own hand might never return. Harmon chuckled and signed a ball for me. It would be nice to say that I cherish that ball still, but some assholes stole it a couple of years ago so that they could buy more meth. Ob la di. It's not about that. Today we celebrate Harmon Killebrew. Cheers, big man,
even if some disbelieve, I know that is your silhouette.
