MLB 21st century face of the franchise — Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton
In the 25-season history of Colorado Rockies baseball, the franchise has only retired two numbers. The first was Jackie Robinson’s iconic 42, whose retirement was mandated league-wide. The second is Todd Helton’s No. 17.
A lifetime Rockie, Helton was drafted by Colorado in 1995 and hit the majors two seasons later. Installed as the team’s regular at first in 1998, he finished second to Kerry Wood in the Rookie Of The Year vote and held down first base in Denver until his retirement in 2013. Eventually that spanned 2,247 games in which he averaged .316 with .414 and .539 on base and slugging averages.
Helton won the National League batting title at a career-best .372 in 2000. A five-time All-Star, he amassed 61.2 games of career WAR in Rockies purple, the largest total in franchise history by a margin approaching 13 games.
Like Lindor in Cleveland, Nolan Arenado had a chance to surpass Helton as a Rockies icon. But like Lindor, Arenado was traded away – in Arenado’s case it was a forced deal. As it stands, Arenado’s record in Colorado simply doesn’t compare with Helton’s.
Just to cite a few examples, Helton leads the franchise in career hits with 2,519; Arenado left with fewer than half that many. Helton also leads in home runs with 369; Arenado hit 235 with the Rockies.
Trevor Story could have been a candidate, but he also left too soon.
In the wings: At this stage, it’s hard to envision anybody replacing Helton in the hearts and minds of Rockies fans. One guy who might have the potential is infielder Brendan Rodgers, a 26-year-old whose career is on the upswing. Connor Joe began 2022 evincing so much potential that color caster Ryan Spilborghs took to hopefully labeling him “the greatest Rockie ever,” but Joe flamed out and was dealt to Pittsburgh for not much of a return.