| Featured Today |
| ~Helton
Posters |
| ~Helton
Golf Clubs |
| The
Todd Archives |
| ~Photo Archives |
| ~Audio Archives |
| ~Video Archives |
| Stadium |
| ~Rockies
Coors Field |
| Interact |
| ~Todd Chat |
| ~Message
Boards |
| ~Baseball
Boards |
| ~Fans Write |
| ~Email
Todd |
| Miscellaneous |
| ~Todd's
game |
| ~Todd's
e-cards |
| ~Shop
Online |
| ~Todd's Store |
| ~ Bats, Jersey's |
|
|
|
| Major
League
Service: Three years, 59 days
Contract: Third year of a four-year contract, through 2001
Career Summary
In two full seasons, Todd Helton has quickly developed into one
of the game’s most productive first basemen…ignoring a recent trend,
which saw many players fall off after an outstanding rookie season,
Helton in his "sophomore" season blew away his rookie numbers…one
of 10 players remaining from the Rockies 1999 Opening Day roster,
Helton is key to the club’s future…the only position player ever
drafted by the Rockies in the first round (1995), Todd signed a
four-year contract before the 1999 season, a deal rarely offered
to a player after his rookie season… Helton
was a catalyst to the Rockies success in ‘99; he hit nearly 100
points better in Rockies wins than in Rockies losses; what’s more,
23 of his 35 homers, and 75 of his 113 RBI came in Colorado victories…Todd’s
resilient, too, having started slowly each of the last two years,
before exploding in the second half…in August, no player in the
majors has proven more dangerous from 1998-99.
Helton has hit .381 (88-for-231) with 12 homers and 57 RBI over
the last two Augusts…he plays one of the toughest first bases in
baseball, learning to deal with the late-evening sun that hounds
his position for most of the summer…during his career he’s ranked
among major league leaders in 3-6-3 double plays; he has a quick
release and he’s left-handed, so he has a good angle in executing
the play…he wasn’t a full-time first baseman until the ‘98 season,
after Andres Galarraga opted to sign with Atlanta and Helton stepped
into the shoes of the franchise icon; even during his first few
months in the majors, Helton played in the outfield…he wasn’t blessed
with great speed, either, but he’s sharp on the basepaths…of his
25 home runs in 1998, 12 came on the road…few hitters threaten right-handers
more than Helton, who ranked second in the league last year with
a .349 average and a .670 slugging percentage vs. RHP…in Buddy Bell’s
order, Helton figures to bat fifth, where he posted a .376 average
last season…he’s also hit .335 with runners in scoring position
over his career…Helton’s .315 career average ranks seventh among
active players; his .554 career slugging percentage ranks 12th.
1999
After an outstanding rookie season, in which he finished a close
runner-up to Rookie of the Year Kerry Wood, the Rockies and Helton
agreed to terms on a four-year contract, March 2…he was solid at
first base, making 148 starts…but perhaps his most important contribution
to the team was his offensive consistency, despite being asked to
bat in five slots in the order (second, third, fifth, sixth and
seventh)…Helton not only avoided the "sophomore jinx," he greatly
improved upon his impressive rookie numbers…Todd, the only Rockies
starter without a hit, went 0-for-5 on Opening Day in Monterrey,
Mexico…on April 8 at Los Angeles, he delivered a two-out, three-run
homer in the seventh, the deciding blast in a 4-1 Rockies win…the
game marked the first of 19 in which Todd drove in at least three
runs; the Rockies were 13-6 in those contests…he hit .120 (3-for-26)
on the team’s opening road trip, but built a seven-game hitting
streak to improve to .288…he then went 1-for-17 over his next six
games to close April, by far his toughest month (.232, three homers,
13 RBI) of the season…Helton changed with the calendar, opening
May with a 10-game hitting streak, including two hits in each of
the streak’s last four games; the streak wound up as his longest
of the year, and tied his career long from 1998…he posted his first
of six multi-homer games on May 11 vs. New York…Todd then hit the
skids again, going 1-for-15 over his next five games…on May 21 vs.
Arizona, he tied his career high with four hits, his first of two
four-hit games on the year (fifth and sixth of career); the four
hits were all singles, tying a club record, last accomplished by
Helton, 8/28/98…on June 2 at Atlanta, Helton blasted a solo homer
to break a 2-2 tie in the 10th, giving the Rockies a win…his second
four-hit contest came during the most memorable week of his career,
in mid-June…he opened the stretch Monday, June 14 vs. the Giants;
inserted as a pinch runner, he delivered a three-run double in his
only at-bat (nine pitches), the game-winning hit in a 5-4 Rockies
win…he homered and drove in four runs the next day in a 15-6 Colorado
win…on June 18 vs. Florida, Todd was 3-for-5, tied a career-high
with five RBI and homered twice, the second of which was his first
career game-ending home run…one night later, on June 19, Helton
doubled, singled and homered; in his fourth trip, knowing he needed
his first triple since 5/15/98, he drove a pitch off the right-field
wall and slid into third, posting the third cycle in club history…he
capped the week with a homer and two more RBI and ran away with
the NL Player of the Week…at one point during the Marlins series,
he’d reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances…amazingly,
Helton’s first four hits after his cycle were a homer, single, double
and triple; he had two career triples entering the season, but posted
two over the four-game stretch in June…Todd fell one hit shy of
a second cycle – on FOUR occasions; only one player since 1900 (Brooklyn’s
Babe Herman in 1931) cycled twice in a season…Helton went 12 games
in between his 55th and 56th RBIs…over a longer stretch, from June
27 to July 22, he drove in only two runs, and finished July with
nine RBI (after posting 25 in June)…he bounced back with another
incredible August…Helton, who in 1998 led the majors with a .398
August average, hit .364 during the month in ‘99, with eight homers
and 28 RBI, earning the club’s Player of the Month honors…Todd strung
together three significant hitting streaks over the season’s final
two months…from August 11-15, he posted five consecutive multi-hit
games (.480, 12-for-25, four homers, 10 RBI)…from August 29 to September
1, he had four straight multi-hit games (11-for-18, .611, triple,
three homers, eight RBI)…finally, from September 8-13, Helton posted
multiple hits in five straight (.545, 12-for-22, three doubles,
three homers, eight RBI)…on August 30 vs. Pittsburgh, with more
than a month left, Helton surpassed his 1998 career high with his
26th home run…12 days later, on September 10 vs. Milwaukee, Helton
eclipsed his ‘98 career-best in RBI…also that night, Todd improved
his average to a season-high .316, one point better than his .315
average the previous season (he finished ‘99 hitting a career-high
.320)…on September 27 at Arizona, Helton sat out his third and final
game; he played in a club-leading 159 games.
1998
In the closest balloting in 16 years, Todd Helton finished second
in the NL Rookie of the Year race, despite one of the finest rookie
seasons in recent memory…Helton led all major-league rookies in
average (.315), homers (25), RBI (97), multi-hit games (49), total
bases (281), slugging percentage (.530) and extra-base hits (63);
and, among NL rookies, he was first in runs (78), hits (167), and
on-base percentage (.380)…since 1972, only Mike Piazza (35), David
Justice (28), and Darryl Strawberry (26) have hit more homers as
an NL rookie, and only Piazza had more RBI (112)…Helton compiled
his overall numbers despite a slow start, and despite platooning
at first base vs. left-handed starters…on May 1 Todd was hitting
just .259 with no homers and 12 RBI…he broke out in a three-game
series at Philadelphia, May 4-6, going 6-for-13 with six RBI and
his first two homers of the season…the first homer, May 5 off the
Phillies’ Mike Grace, snapped a streak of 134 consecutive homerless
at-bats (dating back to 1997)…on May 10 at Montreal Todd registered
his first career multi-homer game…Helton’s first eight homers on
the year were solo shots, but he delivered a three-run blast off
Sean Bergman June 24 vs. Houston to end the streak…at the break
he was hitting .273 with 13 homers and 45 RBI…he hit safely in the
first seven games after the break, including four hits July 14 vs.
San Diego…Greg Colbrunn’s July 30 trade to Atlanta officially ended
the club’s first-base platoon and Todd proved in August that he
could hit lefties as well as righties…Helton led the majors in August
with a .398 average, hitting safely in 24 of his 29 games with 29
RBI…he went 5-for-8 in an August 18 doubleheader at New York, pushing
his average past .300, where it would remain the rest of the year…he
had at least one RBI in seven consecutive games August 22-28 (13
total) and finished second to Jeff Kent in the NL-Player of the
Month balloting…he notched his fourth and final four-hit game of
the season, September 4 vs. San Diego…a sprained right wrist (during
an at-bat September 13 at San Francisco) kept him out of action
during the Los Angeles series, September 14-16…on September 23 vs.
Arizona, he was 3-for-5 with a double, two homers and a career-high
five RBI…his 25th and final homer was a three-run blast in the season
finale, September 27 vs. San Francisco; the homer played a key role
in helping the Rockies erase a seven-run deficit to beat the Giants…on
the year 12 of Helton’s 25 homers either tied the game or put the
Rockies in front…vs. lefthanders, he started the year 0-for-12 with
five strikeouts, but ended the season with a .304 mark, collecting
34 hits in his last 100 at-bats (.340) vs. lefties…his .386 average
with men in scoring position led the Rockies and was fourth-best
in the NL.
1997
Little more than two years after being drafted, Helton made his
major league debut…he opened the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs,
where he was hitting .352 when the Rockies called August 1…a PCL
All-Star, he played 78 games at first and 22 in the outfield…Todd
made a memorable major-league debut August 2 at Pittsburgh, batting
fifth and starting in left; he flied out in his first at-bat but
singled in his second trip off the Bucs’ Francisco Cordova for his
first major-league hit; after a walk he belted his first big-league
homer, a solo shot off Marc Wilkins…the next day at Three Rivers,
he picked up two more hits and his second homer…Helton hit safely
in his first four games in the majors (7-for-16)…he went 3-for-12
as a pinch-hitter and homered off Cincinnati’s closer, Jeff Shaw,
on August 25…on the season he made 14 starts in the outfield (13
in left and one in right) and posted two assists…he also started
seven games at first base.
1996
Helton opened his first full pro season with Double-A New Haven,
but by late July he’d moved up to Colorado Springs…the Eastern League
named him the first baseman on its midseason and postseason All-Star
teams, despite his July departure…he debuted in AAA July 30, going
3-for-4 at Tucson…after three consecutive hitless games in early
April, Todd did not go more than two consecutive games without a
hit, including his stint in AAA…named the best defensive first baseman
in the Eastern League.
1995
Helton began his pro career at Asheville (A)…after the regular season,
Todd played winter ball for the Maui Stingrays.
College
A quarterback for the gridiron Vols, he started several games during
the ‘94 season in place of an injured Jerry Colquitt…a first baseman/pitcher
in the spring, Todd set 19 school records and in 1995, led the Vols
to the College World Series, both at the plate and on the hill…he
narrowly missed the ‘95 SEC triple crown, posting the second-best
average (.407), while leading in homers (20) and RBI (92)…as a hurler
in ‘95, Helton was 8-2 with a 1.66 ERA and 12 saves; he made four
starts on the mound, each a complete-game victory…capping an incredible
collegiate career, he was Baseball America’s ‘95 College Player
of the Year, the SEC’s Player of the Year, the Mizuno/Collegiate
Baseball Co-National Player of the Year and was named All-America
for the third straight season.
Personal
Todd Lynn Helton…he and his wife, Kristi, were married Jan. 29…a
‘92 graduate of Knox Central (Tenn.) High School, he lettered in
baseball and football…a 1992 Baseball America prep All-American,
he hit .655 (51-for-78)…he remained a two-sport star and attend
the University of Tennessee, passing on an opportunity to sign with
San Diego…he had bone spurs removed from his heels late in the fall
of 1996…during the ‘98 season his teammates named him as the club
player representative, the first time the Rockies have named a rookie
to that role…following his spectacular rookie season, the Tennessee
Sports Hall of Fame named him its 1998 Professional Athlete of the
Year…signed by Ty Coslow.
|
|
