Nelson Cruz expresses admiration for Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew's consistency

CLEVELAND — Nelson Cruz never met Harmon Killebrew, who's been gone eight years now. But the Twins' current home run leader has learned a lot during his time in Minnesota about the franchise's power-hitting icon.

Which is why, Cruz said Friday, it would mean a lot to break one of Killebrew's most venerable and seemingly impregnable franchise records.

"He's one of the greatest hitters of all time," Cruz said of Killebrew, the first Hall of Famer to be sculpted in a Twins cap on his Cooperstown plaque. "You dream of doing things like he did. I mean, when I was coming up, I showed some signs of power, but the consistency wasn't there. That's what sets you apart, what set [Killebrew] apart."

Here's what sets Cruz apart as a Minnesota Twin: He enters the season's final two weeks with a .623 slugging percentage, second only to Mike Trout's .645 in the American League. In 1961, the franchise's first season in the Twin Cities, Killebrew slugged a career-best .606, a mark that might have gotten more attention had it not been eclipsed by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, among others, during their pursuit of the home run record.

But Killebrew's .606 has stood as the best ever by a Twin for 59 years now. Until 2019, the craziest home run season yet.

"It's good company, for sure. The best," Cruz said.

How did it happen?

Wait, exit velocity? Has Cruz always been intent on increasing that?

"We didn't used to call it that," he said with a laugh. "We called it, 'Go hit it hard.' "

Few were better at it than Killebrew, who until Brian Dozier reached the benchmark in 2016, owned all seven 40-home run seasons in Twins history. Cruz and Max Kepler, each of whom have hit 36 this season, could join him, a fact that one of Killebrew's friends said would be fitting.

"I believe Harmon would hold Nelson in as high regard as he did Jim Thome, who passed him on the [career] home run list," said Twins broadcaster Dick Bremer, Killebrew's partner in the booth in the mid-1980s.

"The value [Cruz] brings on the field and in the clubhouse is something that Harmon brought to the Twins' teams in the 1960s and early '70s. Everyone on this team looks up to Nelson Cruz the way those teams did with Harmon."

• Byron Buxton flew to Minneapolis on Friday, three days after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. He'll join the team when it returns home on Monday, and will remain the rest of the season