Todd Helton


TODD HELTON - COLORADO ROCKIES

First Base
Age: 28 (August 20, 1973)
Height: 6-2 Weight: 204
Throws: Left Bats: Left

History

The story of Todd Helton is one of the hometown boy does good. But then, it got better.

Helton was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. As a 1992 graduate of Knoxville Central High School, he lettered in baseball and football. In his senior season, Helton was a 1992 Baseball America prep All-American as he hit .655 (51-for-78) with 10 homers and 39 RBIs. Although he was drafted by the San Diego Padres, Helton decided to remain in his hometown and become a two-sport star at the University of Tennessee. A quarterback for the gridiron Volunteers, Helton started several games during the 1994 season in place of an injured Jerry Colquitt. He was succeeded by some sissy-named kid with a good bloodline named Peyton Manning.

A first baseman/pitcher in the spring, Helton set 19 school records and led the Vols to the College World Series in 1995. He narrowly missed the 1995 SEC triple crown, posting the second-best average (.407), while leading in homers (20) and RBI (92). On the mound, Helton was 8-2 with a 1.66 ERA and 12 saves. He made four starts on the mound; each was a complete-game victory.

Helton capped an incredible collegiate career by being named Baseball America's 1995 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. When the Rockies made him their first-round draft pick that summer, then-general manager Bob Gebhard called Helton a classic line-drive hitter who would wear out the gaps in Coors Field, hitting 20 to 25 homers a season.

The Talent

He started his pro career quickly, hitting .471 in his first five games at Class A Asheville. It was up and down from there before finishing at .254 with one HR and 15 RBIs. The Rockies were hoping to see more of his collegiate power.

Helton opened his first full pro season with Double-A New Haven. He hit .332 in 93 games at New Haven, driving in 51 runs with 24 doubles, two triples and seven HR. He showed a keen eye there, drawing 51 walks, compared with 37 strikeouts. The Eastern League named Helton the first baseman on its midseason and postseason All-Star teams, despite his July departure to Triple-A Colorado Springs. His stint with the Sky Sox lasted from July 29 to the end of the season, where he became a PCL All-Star. In 1997, Helton opened the season at Colorado Springs, where he was hitting .352 when the Rockies called him up to the big leagues on August 1st. In 35 games, Helton hit .280 with 5 HR and 11 RBI.

In the closest balloting in 16 years, Todd Helton finished second in the 1998 NL Rookie of the Year race to Kerry Wood, 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).

In 1999, Helton earned the first base job full time, and, despite being asked to bat in five slots in the order (second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh), he not only avoided the "sophomore jinx," but greatly improved upon his impressive rookie numbers. Helton hit .320 with a .587 slugging percentage, 39 2B, 35 HR and 113 RBI.

The year 2000 was a magical one for the first baseman as he flirted with .400 late into the summer and ultimately led the majors with a .372 BA. He hit 42 HR, 147 RBI and struck out only 61 times, finishing with an astounding .698 slugging percentage. Helton won the Hank Aaron Award as the best overall hitter in the National League, and was voted The Associated Press Major League Player of the Year.

2001 Season

Todd Helton signed a new 11-year, $151 million contract with the Rockies just days before the start of the 2001 regular season. He then continued to establish himself as one of the game's premiere hitters. He became the first player in history to produce back-to-back seasons of 100 extra-base hits, finished second to teammate Larry Walker for the National League batting title, and equaled the franchise record with 49 home runs. An All-Star selection for the second time, Helton also was awarded his first Gold Glove at first base, where he committed just two errors.

2002 Outlook

Helton is just coming into his prime. Given the benefit of Coors Field, where he has a .375 career batting average compared to .290 on the road, he has shown he is a player that can be counted on to hit 40-plus home runs, drive in 140-plus runs and score 110-plus runs.

The Projection

Well, it looks like Helton’s 2002 season is already a bust as he going to fail in his bid to improve on most of his stats for the sixth season in a row. What a bum! Dump him!

NOT! Okay, the only stats he’ll probably improve on from last season are triples, walks and batting average. But Helton will still get nearly 200 hits, 100 RS, 45 2B, 30 HR, 115 RBI and have a slugging percentage of .600+, which is as good as any 1B. He’s having a little back trouble, so keep an eye on that, but, at 28, he is as definite a keeper pick as there is.

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Jeff Brown
Cubs/Rockies Correspondent