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Killebrew’s Exploits Thrill Young Fan

Sept. 12, 1964 - A certain tier in boys heaven is reserved for the lad who watches his baseball idol for the first time and sees him belt one deep into the stands — especially for him.

Plucky John Guiney (left), 9, sat there today, eyes straining on the disappearing white orb in Yankee Stadium. And he basked in a special glow as his hero, Harmon (Killer) Killebrew (right), trotted the bases behind another teammate to put the Minnesota Twins ahead of the Yanks.

As John’s father, Michael Sr., put it: “He’s now sitting three inches above his seat. He knows the homer was for him!”

Added the elder Guiney, 41, a control clerk for the Federal Reserve Bank: “The sky’s a little overcast, but the sun certainly shone in Johnny.”

Sunshine had been a stranger to John not too long ago. While serving vespers in his church, St. Joseph’s of Brooklyn, on May 1, his robes caught fire from the candles. And painful third-degree burns covered more than half his body.

At New York Hospital, the boy spent the sad, long days while doctors worked on his injuries. His one pleasure was reading of his hero, the Twins slugger, and saving his pictures.

On May 20, Killebrew visited John in the hospital, signed a ball for him, and autographed the lad’s glove. Then he went out to the Stadium and blasted two homers for John. But the boy wasn’t there.

On June 19, a Minnesota woman sent him a ball Killebrew had hit in a home game and later signed. But the days were long. And then John was out of the hospital.

John was reluctant to go out on the street when he got home, a third-floor apartment at 77 Underhill Ave. His father then bought him a mongrel dog to lift his spirits. Johnny called him Killer. And, walking his pet, he once more caught the flavor of life in the borough.

Today was his big day. In a gray baseball suit his father had bought, on which his mother, Muriel, had sewed TWINS and No. 3, Killebrew’s number, Johnny left his home for Yankee Stadium. With him were his father and brother, Michael Jr., 11.

There was a happy reunion at the Stadium, arranged by New York Daily News sportswriter Jim McCulley.

“Why didn’t you let me know you were coming?” said Killebrew. Johnny explained that his father had surprised him.

The boy asked for a homer, and Killebrew replied: “We can’t do it all the time, but we certainly can try.”

You could say Harmon made a very nice try.

But you would have to add “tough luck” when the hero muffed a fly, to set up the Yanks’ winning run in the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory.

Asked how he reacted, John said: “I was booing the Yankees. I wish he caught it.”


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© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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