Despite his "Killer" nickname, Harmon Killebrew was a quiet, kind man who did not take much to the partying lifestyle enjoyed by many of his peers. He became one of the American League's most feared power hitters in the 1960’s, belting 40 homers in a season eight times. Harmon had his greatest season in 1969, posting league-leading totals in home runs (49), RBI (145), walks (145) and on-base percentage (.431) to lead the Twins to an A.L. West Division title and earn him the American League’s Most Valuable Player award. The 5’ 11” right-handed slugger currently sits twelfth on the all-time home run list with 573 and his legend grows thicker by the years.
Presented here is one of Killebrew's only 1969 MVP gamers to ever come up for auction. The only other with true '69 tagging was a pinstriped home example that sold way back in 2004 for $24,926. This well-worn and well-preserved gray button flannel has “Twins” sewn across the chest and Harmon's No. "3" on the reverse, each done in navy blue on red tackle twill. On the front left tail is the Spalding manufacturer’s label with an attached size "44" strip tag. Chain-stitched in blue script directly above is “Killebrew 3 44 69” indicating his player number, size and year. The washing instructions label is sewn at the bottom below. In the rear collar is a felt strip tag with “Killebrew” in blue chain stitching. The right sleeve has the classic Twin Cities team logo patch, while the MLB 100th anniversary patch appears in the right sleeve. When searching "1969 Killebrew" on Getty Images, there are several shots of him wearing what appears to be this very jersey (based on front alignment of buttons and Twins logo).
Longtime baseball uniform evaluator Dave Grob of SGC indicates that both the back number and MLB centennial patch show evidence of being restored. He does confirm that the MLB patch is from the '69 time period. All other aspects are original to the jersey. It shows consistent wear throughout with slight sweat staining around the neck, but otherwise remains clean from repeated laundering during its heyday. There is a small 1/2" fabric tear to the upper right of the back numeral. The only known provenance is that the shirt was originally sourced from a fan appreciation sale by one of the Twins' minor league affiliates.
Includes SGC authentication booklet (22 pages) by Grob with an overall grade of Very Good - Excellent ("VG-E"), which equates to 4.5/6 on their six level grading scale.