Todd Helton

Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies announced his retirement from Major League Baseball yesterday, effective at the end of the season. Todd Helton started his professional career with the 1995 Asheville Tourists after being a First Round, Pick #8, by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Tennessee. He played 54 games for the Tourists after he signed with the Rockies and he hit .254 with only one homerun and 15 RBI's in 201 at bats. It was a unremarkable debut by a First Round Draft Pick with such high expectations. The real star of the 1995 Tourists was Outfielder Derrick Gibson who hit 32 homeruns and drove in 115. Todd Helton was on the fast track to the Rockies, however, and he was in Colorado to stay by 1998. He exhibited much more power in Colorado and hit 25 Homeruns and drove in 97 to finish 2nd in the Rookie of the Year balloting that season. He played 17 seasons in the majors, all with the Colrado Rockies, and has a career Batting Average of .317 with 367 Homeruns and 1397 RBI's in 2235 games to date. Those are Hall Of Fame worthy numbers. He appeared in one World Series with Colorado in 2007 against the Boston Red Sox. He went 5 for 15 with one RBI in that Series. The Boston Red Sox swept them in 4 games. Derrick Gibson made it to Colorado for a total of 17 games in 1998-99. His career totals were 14 for 49 for a .286 average with 2 homeruns and 8 RBI's. He spent a total of 14 seasons in the minors. I remember watching both of them play that season and the comparison between those two players is proof of how fickle a career in baseball can be. I remember being in awe of Gibson's raw baseball skills and I kept waiting on Helton to show me anything outside of being a First Round bust. It is a good thing I am not a baseball scout.