Harmon Killebrew's words of wisdom

Sometimes, patience gets rewarded. I've been waiting for a big read about Jim Thome and Joe Christensen totally delivered today.

In Section 219, we've wanted Thome on our side for quite a few years and to have it finally happen is one of the better things about the approach of the 2010 season. The only disappointment is that the funny Jim Thome posts on Twitter are by a fake Jim Thome. (Ms. Baseball asked him at TwinsFest.)

I was especially intrigued by the story's Harmon Killebrew drug riff, where he talks about watching others pass him on baseball's home run list. It's one thing for me to talk about it and quite another for Killebrew, who is 573 home runs ahead of me on the all-time list and quite likely would be 573 ahead of me even with the same number of at-bats.

If you've ever talked to Harmon, you can hear these words coming out of his mouth -- sad ... more wistful than bitter ... a hint of anger that he's too classy to share in depth outside of his intimates. Here's the part of Joe's story about Thome needing 10 more home runs to reach Harmon's total:

"I passed up a lot of guys along the way, and that's just part of the game," Killebrew said. "So, if they do it the right way, like Jim has, that's good."

Thome never has been linked to performance-enhancing drugs. The same can't be said for four players who have passed Killebrew -- Barry Bonds (762), Sammy Sosa (609), Mark McGwire (583) and Alex Rodriguez (583).

"There have been a few that you find out that they used that stuff, and that's a cloud over baseball," Killebrew said. "It's changed the game forever, really, because the game was made of statistics, and to change them the way they did is not right."

The latest steroid admission came this winter from McGwire.

"He was suspect for a long time, so to say that he did use the stuff was good," Killebrew said. "But he said he did it, and now what?

"It's a difficult thing. People ask me all the time, 'What do you think should be done with those guys?' I don't know. Nobody has an answer."

Nobody has an answer because baseball has been played on an ever-changing surface. Babe Ruth faced rag-arm pitchers who would have been pulled from today's game and suffered the primitive travel of that era.

Harmon hit most of his homers when pitchers had the advantage a higher pitching mound but also benefited from two rounds of expansion that thinned pitching quality. Home runs went up by 17 per AL team in the first year after expansion from 8 teams to 10 (1960 to '61) and 27 per teams when the AL went from 10 teams to 12 (1968 to '69. The bigger jump could also be explained by the lowering of the mound after the '68 season.) Harmon tied his career high with 49 homers in 1969 and had a career-best 140 RBI.

The current sluggers are playing in more hitter-friendly parks, lifting weights and playing in an era when doing the little things right isn't as valued in many places as doing the big things well. Why can't Johnny bunt? But baseball was excruciating slow to figure out the magnitude of its drug problem and, like other sports, will always fight the battles against those looking to stay one step ahead of the testers and other rules. (Can you imagine the Babe or Hank Aaron coming to bat with the thing Barry Bonds wore on his forearm?)

But I'm not to preach (too much). The long-term proof of baseball's integrity will be that Harmon and Thome will be in Cooperstown while Bonds and Mark McGwire and the other taints will have to settle for the packages of adulation and scorn they wrapped for themselves. Yes, there are cheats and racists of varying stripes in the Hall of Fame, but if the contemporary voters can do a better job of guarding the gates from the troublemakers, baseball is better for it.