Harmon Killebrew — Bill Mack, Minneapolis
Bill Mack · Target Field plaza · Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Photo from the Street Art Utopia archive; photographer and capture date are unrecorded. Artwork: Bill Mack, 2010. Full photograph shown; resized for display.
Outside Target Field, the bronze Harmon Killebrew is caught at full extension, on a swing the Grand Forks Herald said was “intended to send a baseball into orbit.” Sculptor Bill Mack made it for the ballpark’s opening in April 2010. Grand Forks Herald · Star Tribune · Shama Sports Headliners Checked
5 things to know
- Hundreds of photos for one swingKillebrew posed for hundreds of photos for Bill Mack, as Rod Carew did for his own statue. Grand Forks Herald Reported
- Unveiled with the ballparkThe Killebrew, Carew and Kirby Puckett statues by Mack were unveiled in April 2010, the season Target Field opened. Shama Sports Headliners · Grand Forks Herald Checked
- One of Mack’s Twins bronzesMack’s Twins statues also include the Pohlads, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek and Tom Kelly. Shama Sports Headliners Reported
- Where fans said goodbyeAfter Killebrew’s death in May 2011, fans left flowers, cards and balloons at the foot of his statue on the plaza. Grand Forks Herald (McClatchy-Tribune) · MPR News Checked
- The numbers behind the swing“Killer” hit 573 home runs, batted right-handed, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1984. Baseball Hall of Fame Checked
Check-in guide
- 📍
- At the front of the ballpark’s plaza, Target Field, Minneapolis. Grand Forks Herald · Grand Forks Herald (McClatchy-Tribune) Reported
- 🚪
- Target Field’s Gate 3, in center field, carries Killebrew’s retired number. MLB.com Reported
Sightings
- 2010Apr
Unveiled · Shama
- 201025 Apr
Star Tribune column
- 201117 May
MPR photos of fans’ tributes
- 20258 May
Listed among the statues
Amber stamps are dates of reports. The green stamp is MPR News’s photographs of fans at the statue, taken 17 May 2011. The status stamp follows David Shama’s column of 8 May 2025, which lists the statue among the Twins’ bronzes; it is not a dated photograph.
On the record
The swing
“Killebrew has shifted his weight and is getting full extension on a swing intended to send a baseball into orbit.”
The paper’s description of Mack’s statue.
Nothing to fix
“Nailed ’em!”
The columnist’s verdict on Mack’s Killebrew and Carew statues.
Three roses
“Three roses for No. 3.”
Jackie Oie, laying flowers at the base of the statue soon after the news of Killebrew’s death broke.
The facts
- Work
- Bronze statue of Harmon Killebrew swinging a bat. Grand Forks Herald · Shama Sports Headliners · Grand Forks Herald (McClatchy-Tribune) Checked
- Sculptor
- Bill Mack. Grand Forks Herald · Star Tribune · Shama Sports Headliners Checked Shama calls him a Minnesota-based artist. Shama Sports Headliners Reported
- Date
- Unveiled April 2010. Shama Sports Headliners · Grand Forks Herald Checked
- Location
- Plaza of Target Field, Minneapolis. Grand Forks Herald · Grand Forks Herald (McClatchy-Tribune) · MPR News Checked
- Subject
- Harmon Killebrew, 573 home runs, Hall of Fame 1984. Baseball Hall of Fame Checked
- Status
- Listed among Target Field’s statues in May 2025. Shama Sports Headliners Reported No dated photograph from 2025–2026 found. Unconfirmed
- Our photo
- Shows a bronze batter at full extension in front of a Twins TC banner, as the Herald describes the Killebrew statue. Pose, uniform, helmet and right-handed swing match the credited photographs of the Killebrew statue in the Sporting Statues Project; the photographer and date of our photo are unrecorded. Street Art Utopia archive · The Sporting Statues Project Reported
Related
- Only in America (14 Photos vol. 2): the SAU collection that includes this photo
- Couldn’t Resist (8 Photos): SAU’s earlier post with the same photo
- Fat Policeman by András Illyés: another bronze that visitors can’t leave alone, with its own Artwork File
All sources (9)
Reporting
- Grand Forks Herald: Twins’ Pujols gives big assist in opening Target Field, Patrick Reusse column (Star Tribune, syndicated), undated page, written for the ballpark’s 2010 opening. The swing, the photo sessions for Mack and the plaza.
- Star Tribune: Does bronze become him?, 25 April 2010. Mack’s Killebrew and Carew sculptures.
- Shama Sports Headliners: Twins prolific statue builders, but where’s everybody else?, David Shama, 8 May 2025. Mack’s Twins statues with dates, Killebrew April 2010.
- Grand Forks Herald: Tributes to late Harmon Killebrew all around Target Field, May 2011 (McClatchy-Tribune). Fans’ tributes at the foot of the statue on Target Plaza.
- MPR News: Killebrew remembered for big bat, big heart, 18 May 2011, photos taken 17 May 2011. Fans bringing flowers to the statue on the plaza.
Records
- National Baseball Hall of Fame: Harmon Killebrew, Killebrew’s Hall of Fame page: 573 home runs, inducted 1984, “Killer”, batted right.
- MLB.com: Target Field guide, 20 May 2025. Gate 3 and Killebrew’s retired number.
- The Sporting Statues Project: Harmon Killebrew, Target Field, undated database entry with credited photos: sculptor Bill Mack, bronze, unveiled 12 April 2010, in situ.
- ESPN Page 2: Bill Mack sculpted the Target Field statues, Maria Burns Ortiz, 4 May 2010. Mack commissioned for the Puckett, Carew and Killebrew statues outside Target Field; Killebrew: “I think Bill Mack did a wonderful job on it.”
Artwork File · Last checked 15 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files