Seattle Times columnist Larry Stone has been around the baseball block a time or two and has probably forgotten more about the history of the game than most of us will learn. He's a fantastic scribe with a deep respect for baseball and its legends. And when the news Harmon Killebrew had decided to end his fight with cancer broke, Stone did what he does best and shared a few memories of the baseball legend.
↵Killebrew passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74. While Stone's piece was written before Killebrew's death, it captures the man behind the legendary baseball player and is filled with warm memories.
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↵↵It's doubly sad because I've had the opportunity to meet and interview Killebrew on a few occasions, and found him to be -- you're going to hear this a lot in the coming days -- one of the most gracious, humble and down-to-earth superstars you're ever going to meet. He was also, in a way, one of us, a Northwesterner from little Payette, Idaho, probably the greatest athlete to ever come out of the Gem State.
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The memories of past and current players contained in his AP obituary follow the same line as Stone. Baseball didn't just lose a great player, it lost a great man and an ambassador of the game.
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