Harmon: One Of The Greats Passes

Legend has it that Idaho Sen. Herman Welker , also from Payette, tipped the Washington Senators to the fact that a strong kid in Idaho was worth a look. Welker wasn’t a great or even a very good senator, but he was right about Harmon. Welker pestered Clark Griffith, the Senators’ owner, until Griffith sent his scouting director to Payette , a little farm town hard along the Oregon border in southwestern Idaho. Harmon told the guy he was going to play football and baseball for the Oregon Ducks, but when the Senators’ scouting director (that could refer to Welker or the team) saw the 17-year old hit one 435 feet out of the park and into a “beet field, not a potato” field, Killebrew turned pro/ Marc Johnson , The Johnson Report. More here. (2010 file photo: Harmon Killebrew signs autographs before the Hall of Fame Classic baseball game in Cooperstown, N.Y.)

Question: Who is your favorite professional athlete from Idaho?