HOF'er Perceptions

[ValKehl]

I was a kid in the 1950's in the DC suburbs, where I have lived my entire 70+ years. So, of course, my team was the old Senators (now the Twins). My folks didn't have much, but Dad would take me to Griffith Stadium a few times a year - fortunately for me, baseball was the only sport he cared anything about. So, I consider myself very fortunate to have seen Williams, Mantle, Yogi, Whitey, Brooks, Nellie, Aparicio, Kaline, Wynn, etc. play. And, since my folks always got a newspaper, I became a keen reader of the sports section at an early age, so I was very aware of who the outstanding players in the A.L. were. I never got to see any N.L. games when I was young, so all I knew about the N.L stars was what I read in the newspaper (and on the backs of baseball cards, of course) and what I saw occasionally on TV.

As I watched the beginning of Killebrew's career (because the Senators paid him such a huge bonus, they were not permitted to initially start him in the minors to get some seasoning and experience), I was pissed that my Senators squandered their money on this kid who struck out most of the time when they infrequently gave him a chance to play. I must mention, that to my Dad, striking out was practically a Cardinal sin - hence, his and my heroes were the .300 singles hitters who seldom struck out (which is about all that I can say for my Little League career - i.e., the not striking out part, not the hitting .300 part), such as Pete Runnels. I would never have guessed that Killebrew, who is one of the nicest ballplayers that I have ever met, would go on to have a HOF career!
Val