Harmon was born and raised in Payette. He played 22 years in the MLB and at the time of his retirement he had the fourth most home runs in major league history at 573. He was second only to Babe Ruth in American League home runs, and was the AL career leader in home runs by a right-handed batter .
He also finished with the record of having the most plate appearances (9,831) in his career without a sacrifice bunt. He was on the Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as a finalist for Major League Baseball's All-Century Team.
Killebrew was a stocky 5-foot-11-inch tall, 213-pound hitter with a compact swing that generated tremendous power, which earned him the nicknames "Hammerin Harmon" and "The Killer". He became one of the AL's most feared power hitters of the 1960s, hitting 40 home runs in a season eight times. Harmon was known for his quick hands and exceptional upper- body strength, demonstrated by frequent "tape measure" home runs that he hit in the prime of his career. On August 3, 1962, he was the first batter ever to hit a baseball over the left field roof at Tiger Stadium.
On May 24, 1964, Harmon hit the longest measured homer at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, 471 feet. On June 3, 1967, he hit a 520-foot home run, the longest measured home run ever hit at Metropolitan Stadium and the longest in the Minnesota Twins history. His finest season was 1969, when he hit 49 home runs, recorded 140 RBIs, and won the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Harmon led the league six times in home runs and three times in RBIs, and was named to thirteen All-Star teams. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.