Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Harmon Killebrew and Randy Savage

The sports world and the wrestling world (and the two are not as divergent as you think) each lost giants of their profession last week with the losses of baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew and wrestling star Randy Savage.

Harmon Killebrew was touted as being the man that would break the home run record held by Babe Ruth and he didn't fall that far short as when the "Killer" retired,he was second to Ruth in American League only homers and the leader in homers by a righthanded AL hitter.
Killebrew passed on and I was at a dinner with my dad,who remembered when Killebrew came up to the then Washington Senators amongst all that hype.
I wonder how the history of baseball in Washington would have been different,if when Calvin Griffith moved the team to Minnesota with the talent that made the Twins a contender in the 1960's,baseball gave Griffith and Minnesota the expansion team that Washington was stuck,while keeping Killebrew,Tony Oliva and the rest in Washington?

Killebrew often seems to be the forgotten hitter among the homer leaders.
I even did so as we conversed on Killebrew,I gave him about 100 homers less than he actually had.
Harmon Killebrew and Eddie Mathews might be the most underrated "great" players of all time.
Harmon was also remembered for the homers distance as he set records that still are remembered for their rocket shots.
Killebrew hit the longest ball at old Met Stadium in Minneapolis that was measured at 520 feet and is honored by a red seat hanging at the distance in elevation at the Mall of America,which stands at the site today,was the first person to hit a  ball over the left field roof at Tiger Stadium and hit the longest ball at Baltimore Memorial Stadium as well.

The eleven time All Star and 1969 MVP amazingly did not reach the Hall of Fame until his fourth appearance on the ballot.
Killebrew was highly thought of by many and ranked with Brooks Robinson as one of the kindest stars to fans after his career.
My main disappointment with the Loudon Hounds fanfest was that Killebrew was scheduled to appear and was unable to attend due to health issues.
Harmon Killebrew was 74.

Randy Poffo was once a minor league baseball player that didnt hit enough to hit the big time,so what does an athlete do after the dream is over?
Many go into the family business and for Randy Poffo,that meant transforming himself into Randy "Macho Man" Savage and hitting the wrestling circuit.
Savage might have been the only baseball player to hit it big in pro wrestling as far more former football players were able to make the transition.
Savage was part of the family promotion with his father Angelo and brother Lanny in the "outlaw" promotion ICW in the late 70's-early 80's based out of the Lexington Kentucky area before the company closed.
Savage then had a memorable run in the Memphis territory as the invading rival against Jerry "the King" Lawler,but I had never seen Savage wrestle until his arrival in the WWF.
Tape trading was in its infancy then and it just wasn't that easy to see other promotions.
Only through the wrestling magazines were you able to see pictures and "articles" on other territories and as enjoyable as that was,you were depending on the word of others on the quality of the grappler in question.

Savage brought an intensity to his matches that few could match.
When you combine his intensity and athletic ability, Randy Savage was able to deliver the one thing that most wrestling fans of the era craved-Suspension of Disbelief.
This phrase is used often by people both in and out of the business and the goal is this-to be so seemingly on the level that for the hour or two watching the television or at the live show,you put aside your knowledge of what pro wrestling is and enjoy it as you would any other sport.
When you have Suspension of Disbelief,that spells box office clout and Randy Savage had plenty of that.
Randy Savage had the type of aggressive attitude and ring style that it was above beyond the other WWF stars of the time.Paul Orndorff might have matched Savage in aggression and realism,but Savage's ability to play the unbalanced heel topped Orndorff in that area.

Randy Savage always preferred a planned,patterned match that some looked down on as not doing things on the move and that had its good and bad points.
His famous match with Rick Steamboat was just such a match and it ranks as one of the top matches ever and only Savage and his meticulous planning could get an good match out of the horrid Ultimate Warrior.
Savage was the one of the rare wrestlers that was able to retain a large number of his "heel" fans when he was on the right side of the law,simply because he was convincing enough in his character that heel fans could look at him as unchanged,simply wrestling different foes.
There have been very few to handle that balancing act.

For all the things to write about in the ring,Savage will be remembered by the non-fan for two things-the gravely voiced "OHHH Yeahhh" catch phrase and his years as a endorser for the always delicious Slim Jim products.

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