Early votes have Todd Helton in good shape to make Hall of Fame
Dec 21, 2023, 4:37 PM
The greatest player in Colorado Rockies is closer to immortal; Todd Helton is trending in the right direction for being voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in the coming class.
This is Helton’s sixth year on the ballot and he needs 75% of votes to get into Cooperstown. Last year the legendary No. 17 just missed with 72.2% of the votes. In the 32 ballots made public thus far, Helton is carrying 85.3 of the votes. This means he’s gotten 29 votes at this early point in the process, and he is estimated to need 288 votes of the 384 ballots to reach the 75% mark. The voters who do not make their ballots public are generally a bit more stingy with their picks, meaning Helton’s share will fall on decision day.
Helton is noted for his great bat at the turn of the century and he was a fantastic fielder early in his career too. Helton made five-straight All-Star Games from 2000 to 2004 and was a major player in the Rockies run to the 2007 National League pennant.
A four-time Silver Slugger, three-time Gold Glove winner and the 2000 batting title winner, Helton played 17 seasons, all with the Rockies. Helton is the all-time Rockies leader in games played, WAR, hits, home runs, doubles, walks and more. His .316/.414/.539 slashline is second only to fellow Rockies Hall of Famer Larry Walker.
Walker and Helton are the only Hall of Famers in the franchise’s nearly 30-year history, Walker was enshrined in 2020, his 10th and final year on the ballot.
Helton wrapped up his career in 2013 and a year later he was the first to have his jersey number retired by the Rockies. Helton was an instrumental part of the 2007 Rocktober team, hitting one of the biggest home runs in club history. Later in the run he famously fell to one knee as the Rockies clinched the pennant.
Results for this coming Hall of Fame class will be revealed in full on Jan. 24. Adrián Beltré is expected to make the Hall of Fame on his first ballot with Helton and Joe Mauer (also on his first ballot) both above the cut-line right now. Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones and Billy Wagner all have a good chance to make it into the Hall for this class.
