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For Colorado star Todd Helton, the 2007 World Series and Cooperstown call highlight his storied career
Imagine Mr. Rockies, Todd Helton, one of the greatest Colorado Rockies players of all time, in a Boston Red Sox uniform.
That almost happened before the start of the 2007 season. But the proposed trade—which would have sent Beantown’s Mike Lowell, Julián Tavárez, and a minor leaguer from Boston to Colorado for the Rockies’ popular first baseman—fell through.
Helton, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, stayed with the Rockies and had a storybook season in 2007. When Helton retired in 2013, after 17 major league seasons (1997–2013)—all in the Mile High City—he had more hits (2,519), homers (369), and RBI (1,406) than any other player in Rockies history.
As for the Red Sox, they ended up in the World Series in 2007, playing against Helton and the Rockies. Colorado had a magical late-season stretch run in 2007, winning 14 of their last 15 games to capture the National League Wild Card and head to the postseason.
“My favorite season was 2007,” Helton says without hesitation. “I enjoyed winning. Every game we won was a good win. In 2007 every game we won or lost made a huge difference, meant something.”
The left-handed batter contributed mightily to the Rockies’ 2007 season, hitting .320 with 91 RBI and 42 doubles. The Rockies were unstoppable in the National League playoffs in what became known in Colorado as “Rocktober.” The Rockies beat a powerful Philadelphia Phillies team 3 games to 0 in the NLDS and went on to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks 4 games to 0 in the NLCS.
For Helton, the most memorable moment in his career came when he squeezed the last out of the 2007 NLCS. “I realized we were going to the World Series,” he says. That marked the only time Colorado ever won an NL pennant. Rockies fans will never forget seeing Helton at first base raising his fist in jubilation as the NLCS came to an end.
Colorado’s dreams of winning a World Series were dashed when the Rockies were swept in four games by the red-hot Red Sox. Though he wanted to win it all, Helton said he was proud to have made it to a World Series with the Rockies, a team he helped build. He batted a scorching .333 in the 2007 Fall Classic.
A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Helton was a football and baseball star at Central High School in Knoxville. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 1992 MLB Draft but notes, “I wasn’t ready to go into professional baseball right after high school. So I decided to go college instead of signing with the Padres.”
He went to the University of Tennessee on a football and baseball scholarship. In his first two years there, he was the backup quarterback to Heath Shuler, who came in second in Heisman Trophy voting in 1993 and went on to the pros. When Shuler graduated, Helton got a chance to start at quarterback in 1994, but after four games he went down with a knee injury and was replaced by his backup, Peyton Manning.
“I didn’t think I’d be an NFL quarterback. Football helped pay my way through college, but I wanted to play baseball,” the five-time MLB All-Star recalls.
And he played baseball very well.
In 1995, Helton’s junior year, he won the Dick Howser Award as the National Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year. That same year, he was drafted by the Rockies, an expansion team that had only come into existence in 1993. Little did the struggling organization know when they drafted Helton that they were signing the future face of the franchise.
After a quick rise through the minor leagues, Helton found himself starting in left field for the big club on Aug. 2, 1997. He got two hits in his first game, a sign of things to come.
Despite Helton’s debut in the outfield, the team considered the rookie their first baseman of the future. But he only played eight games at first base in 1997 because the position was occupied by veteran and fan favorite Andrés “Big Cat” Galarraga.
“Andrés was a great player and very popular. He helped me a lot,” Helton said. “But when he hit the ball, even in batting practice, you heard a different sound come off the bat. He hit the ball really hard and I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know if I can do that.’”
At the start of the 1998 season, Galarraga had moved on to the Atlanta Braves, and Helton found himself at first. He admits he struggled with the bat at the start of that season.
“But then I decided to focus more on my fielding than my hitting and take some of the pressure off myself at the plate,” notes the now 50-year-old Colorado superstar.
The approach worked, and Helton ended the 1998 season with a .315 batting average, 25 homers, 97 RBI, and a growing fan base. He came in second in the 1998 Rookie of the Year voting behind Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood.
Helton hit over .300 in 12 of his 17 big-league seasons. In 2000, he almost hit .400, nearing or eclipsing the mark on several occasions but finishing with a league-leading .372 average.
“Yeah, there was pressure. I felt it. But whenever I got up—throughout my career—I wanted to get a hit. This wasn’t any different. Still, .372 is pretty good,” the four-time Silver Slugger Award winner said.
A three-time Gold Glove Award winner (2001, 2002, 2004), Helton often thinks back on his playing days.
“I miss it. I didn’t think I would, but I do. I miss the competition of going out there and playing every day,” he said.
Highly superstitious, Helton points out, “I didn’t talk about getting into the Hall of Fame leading up to the vote being announced.”
Then, when he heard he had been elected, Helton said: “I thought everything I’ve done in baseball really happened, and it was good enough for me to get into the Hall of Fame.”
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