Former Colorado Rockies Todd Helton on cusp of Baseball Hall of Fame
Has it really been more than 10 years since we saw Todd Helton roping doubles and manning 1st base for the Colorado Rockies?
It has but Helton is still on the minds of baseball fans here in the Mile High City as we get closer and closer to Tuesday, Jan. 23 when Baseball announces its latest Hall of Fame class.
Helton missed out on the Hall last year finishing with 72.2% of the votes which was only 11 votes shy of reaching the needed 75 percent threshold.
So there is optimism in 2024 that this will be Helton's year.
If it is, it's well deserved. There's a strong argument that during his 17-year career, Todd Beltin' Helton was MLB's best first baseman. He led the league in games played by a first baseman during that span from 1997-2013. He also led all first basemen in runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBI and walks. What about home runs you ask? He was second in dingers finishing with 369.
Add in that he was a 5-time all-star, 3-time Gold Glover, 4-time Silver Slugger(best hitter at your position voted on my MLB Managers), and finished with .316 lifetime batting average and 592 doubles which is good for 20th all-time.
Helton's best year was in 2000 when he led the national league in hits, doubles, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and total bases but somehow finished 5th in the MVP voting.
And if you're looking for a signature moment, how about his walk-off home run against the Dodgers during the team's magical Rocktober run in 2007? The Rockies hadn't had a hit off Dodgers closer Takashi Saito all year until Matt Holiday led off the 9th with a single followed by Helton's heroics. It was the signature moment during the Rockies' incredible run which saw them win 17 of their final 18 games of the regular season and then swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks in the playoffs to win 21 of 22 games and go to their first and only World Series.
Helton is widely regarded as the greatest Colorado Rockie. On Tuesday, he may also be regarded as one of baseball's greatest all-time players.