It isn't every day I get to meet with an honest-to-goodness baseball Hall-of-Famer.

So when I was assigned to meet with Minnestota Twins legend and Hall-of-Famer Harmon Killebrew last Friday, I did a dance of joy.

In my mind, that is.

Killebrew, who hit 573 home runs in 22 Major League seasons, was in Bismarck last week to speak at the God's Child Project banquet. His schedule was tight, so I knew I wouldn't have much time to visit with him - 10, 20 minutes max. But just a few minutes into the interview, I found myself wishing that I had all day to talk to him. I'm a sports history buff and the moment he mentioned some of the all-time greats that graced the big league diamonds during his career, I wanted to forego all of the other questions I had planned to ask him and focus on what Killebrew called "the golden years of baseball."

"There were more great players who played in that time than in any time in the history of baseball," he said.

And how.

When Killebrew broke into the majors in the mid-1950s, pitchers like Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, Robin Roberts and Early Wynn were challenging hitters. Those hitters included Larry Doby, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Duke Snider, Ernie Banks and Al Kaline.

In the 1960s and the early-to-mid 1970s, the list included Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Tom Seaver, Denny McLain, Jim Palmer, Gaylord Perry, Nolan Ryan, Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson, and more of Aaron, Mays, Mantle, Banks and Kaline.

There were many more, but that list alone represents a good chunk of the Hall of Fame.

Killebrew also played with some great players in Minnesota, namely Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat.

Gosh, I wish I'd had more time to talk to him about those players. Killebrew is a living chapter in the baseball encyclopedia - someone who actually See Weber, Page 5D

spoke with, played with or played against some of the greatest players in baseball history. I wanted so badly to ask him what it was like to face a young Ryan, or Koufax in his prime. I wanted to ask him about the year Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown (1967) and helped the Boston Red Sox outlast the Twins for the AL title in one of the most thrilling pennant races in recent history. I wanted to ask him about the year McLain won 31 games (1968) for the Detroit Tigers and the year Carew stole home seven times (1969) for the Twins.

I wanted to talk to him more about other things like free agency, the present-day Twins, and how much baseball has changed since his playing days.

I didn't get the chance, but that's OK. Killebrew was in Bismarck for a specific reason and it wasn't to sign autographs or tell stories of days gone by. Mostly, it was to help benefit yet another charity. Through his foundation, Killebrew has been involved in numerous charities for more than 30 years. It's a passion that began shortly after his friend and former teammate Danny Thompson died of cancer in 1976.

"It was such a tragedy. … He was so young, and he left behind a young wife and two small children," Killebrew said. "I wanted to do something to help his family and other families affected by cancer. It snowballed from there."

One of the foundation's charitable events, the Harmon Killebrew Classic golf tournament, has raised millions of dollars for cancer research and related programs. The tournament will observe its 30th year this summer.

The foundation also has raised millions for other organizations as well as various international causes.

Killebrew and I talked about his charity work for a time and I read a little more about it later that night. It made me wish I'd had more time to talk to him about that part of his life. I had so many questions to ask him, but I didn't get the chance. That's OK. His appearance in Bismarck benefited yet another charity. That's the important thing.

My time with Killebrew was short, but at least I had the opportunity to meet an honest-to-goodness baseball hall-of-famer.

And, a humanitarian hall-of-famer.

3 ENOUGHALREADY: During North Dakota's legislative session, someone should have introduced legislation banning the use of the song "Cotton Eyed Joe" at sporting events. Okay, maybe that would have been too much to ask of our lawmakers, who had far more important issues weighing on their minds. But for crying out loud, something has to be done to put this song to rest. It gets way, way too much play time, as it did Sunday night at the Dakota-Colorado D-League championship game.

I have to admit I liked the song the first couple of times I heard it, but the last couple of thousand times have really gotten on my nerves.

There are many other fiddle-playin', banjo-pickin', foot-stumping, hand-clapping songs available out there. Why not try "Uncle Penn" by Ricky Skaggs, or "Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels, or "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Flatt and Scruggs, or "Orange Blossum Special" by Roy Clark, or anything by Bill Monroe?

Variety is a good thing. In the case of "Cotton Eyed Joe," it's a must.

(Michael Weber is a Tribune sportswriter)