1973
Born August 20, 1973
Knoxville, TN, USA
Todd Helton Marquee Hall of Fame 2024
b. August 20, 1973 · Colorado Rockies 1997–2013
He played for one club and never appeared in a major-league game for anyone else, and he hit .316 doing it. Seventeen seasons produced 2,519 hits, 592 doubles, 369 home runs, 1,406 runs driven in, and 1,335 walks, with forty or more doubles in seven different years. Nineteen players have more doubles.
The 2000 season was the outlier: 216 hits, 59 doubles, and 147 runs driven in, each a league high, plus 42 home runs and 138 runs scored. He was a first baseman with three Gold Gloves and five straight All-Star selections. In 2007 the Rockies won the only pennant in their history and lost the World Series.
Coors Field governed how his numbers were read, and the writers took six ballots to elect him. He drew 70 votes of 425 the first time and 307 of 385 in 2024. Before baseball he had been a quarterback at Tennessee, in his home town of Knoxville.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 5 | 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| Silver Slugger | 4 | 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 4 | 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 |
| Gold Glove | 3 | 2001, 2002, 2004 |
| Player of the Month | 3 | 2000, 2002, 2003 |
| Player of the Week | 3 | 1999, 2000, 2005 |
| Hank Aaron Award | 1 | 2000 |
| MLB Players Choice Outstanding Player | 1 | 2000 |
| This Year in Baseball Oddity of the Year | 1 | 2013 |
| The Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year | 1 | 1998 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | COL | 35 | 93 | 13 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 0 | .280 |
| 1998 | COL | 152 | 530 | 78 | 167 | 37 | 1 | 25 | 97 | 53 | 54 | 3 | .315 |
| 1999 | COL | 159 | 578 | 114 | 185 | 39 | 5 | 35 | 113 | 68 | 77 | 7 | .320 |
| 2000 | COL | 160 | 580 | 138 | 216 | 59 | 2 | 42 | 147 | 103 | 61 | 5 | .372 |
| 2001 | COL | 159 | 587 | 132 | 197 | 54 | 2 | 49 | 146 | 98 | 104 | 7 | .336 |
| 2002 | COL | 156 | 553 | 107 | 182 | 39 | 4 | 30 | 109 | 99 | 91 | 5 | .329 |
| 2003 | COL | 160 | 583 | 135 | 209 | 49 | 5 | 33 | 117 | 111 | 72 | 0 | .358 |
| 2004 | COL | 154 | 547 | 115 | 190 | 49 | 2 | 32 | 96 | 127 | 72 | 3 | .347 |
| 2005 | COL | 144 | 509 | 92 | 163 | 45 | 2 | 20 | 79 | 106 | 80 | 3 | .320 |
| 2006 | COL | 145 | 546 | 94 | 165 | 40 | 5 | 15 | 81 | 91 | 64 | 3 | .302 |
| 2007 | COL | 154 | 557 | 86 | 178 | 42 | 2 | 17 | 91 | 116 | 74 | 0 | .320 |
| 2008 | COL | 83 | 299 | 39 | 79 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 29 | 61 | 50 | 0 | .264 |
| 2009 | COL | 151 | 544 | 79 | 177 | 38 | 3 | 15 | 86 | 89 | 73 | 0 | .325 |
| 2010 | COL | 118 | 398 | 48 | 102 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 37 | 67 | 90 | 0 | .256 |
| 2011 | COL | 124 | 421 | 59 | 127 | 27 | 0 | 14 | 69 | 59 | 71 | 0 | .302 |
| 2012 | COL | 69 | 240 | 31 | 57 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 37 | 39 | 44 | 1 | .237 |
| 2013 | COL | 124 | 397 | 41 | 99 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 61 | 40 | 87 | 0 | .249 |
| Career | — | 2247 | 7962 | 1401 | 2519 | 592 | 37 | 369 | 1406 | 1335 | 1175 | 37 | .316 |
On this day & linked events
1997
Major-league debut: Todd Helton
Todd Helton made a major-league debut on August 2, 1997.
1999
Todd Helton Hits for the Cycle, 1999
Todd Helton hit for the cycle for the Colorado Rockies against the Florida Marlins on June 19, 1999.
2000
Todd Helton's Three-Home-Run Game, 2000
Todd Helton hit three home runs for the Colorado Rockies against the Montreal Expos on May 1, 2000.
2003
Todd Helton's Three-Home-Run Game, 2003
Todd Helton hit three home runs for the Colorado Rockies against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 29, 2003.
2013
Final major-league game: Todd Helton
Todd Helton played a final major-league game on September 29, 2013.