Helena Broadcaster Steve Wendt's Killebrew Moment

[Mass Haas]

Nice story includes this remembrance --

Steve Wendt, radio sportscaster for the Helena Brewers, shared his experience with Killebrew.

It occurred in Ogden, Utah, about six years ago, when the Minnesota Twins legend appeared as a guest commentator for the Raptors.

“After the top half of the inning on the other side, he came over to my side just out of courtesy, and asked if I wanted him to sit in for the bottom half of the inning,” Wendt recounted. “I don’t even remember saying ‘Yes’ — I think I just handed him the head-set.”

As fate would have it, the Raptors scored 11 runs in the inning, giving the Brewers’ broadcaster 45 minutes on the air with Killebrew.

“The first thing he talked about was how he knew all about Helena, from the stories Calvin Griffith told him,” Wendt said. “We covered a wide range of topics, but what I think stands out the most, is how unbelievably kind he was.”

He said that Killebrew was deferential to the idea that many of the big boppers at the time surpassing him on the home run list were suspected of using steroids.

When asked if he could relate to the young guys in Class A ball working their way up, Killebrew admitted “No,” since he went straight to the majors from high school.

In his first five years in the majors, he appeared in only 104 games, hitting just 11 homers.

It is conceivable had he experienced the normal two-plus years of seasoning in the minors, he would’ve started his big league career as a more mature 21-year old, and could have possibly hit more than 650 career homers.