Killebrew ends fight vs cancer, moves to hospice

"I didn't have evil intentions," Killebrew once said, "but I guess I did have power."

His home run totals turned out to be that much more impressive, given the smaller parks, watered-down pitching staffs and juiced balls and players that came in the decades after he retired.

Though Killebrew has been passed in recent years by Alex Rodriguez and Thome on the homer list to fall out of the top 10, he ought to be in 11th place for some time, particularly as dominant young pitchers have taken control of this post-steroid era in baseball. With Manny Ramirez's sudden retirement last month, the next closest active players are Vladimir Guerrero and Chipper Jones with 440.

Albert Pujols, with 415 homers at age 31, might be the next threat to reach Killebrew's mark.