He has been the face of the Colorado Rockies franchise for many years, and now first baseman Todd Helton will be honoured as the first player in team history to have his number retired. The team has announced that a ceremony honouring the recently retired Helton and his number 17 will be held in a ceremony to take place at Coors Field on August 17th, 2014.
Rockies owner Dick Monfort said the idea of retiring Helton’s number came up when he and club president Keli McGregor shortly before McGregor’s unexpected passing in April 2010.
“Keli and I told Todd that we didn’t want him to play anywhere else and told him, ‘We want to retire your number here,'” Monfort said Thursday.
“Seventeen years is the first thing. No one else has been here that long and for his whole career. He was one of our earliest top Draft picks. He holds a lot of team records. With his play and his leadership, it was just natural [to retire his number].”
The ceremony will be the finale of “Helton Weekend” in Colorado as the team will give commemorative bobbleheads to the first 15,000 fans at the game on August 15th, and commerative jerseys on August 16th. The team will also give out “gnome bobbleheads” on August 17th. The Rockies opponents for the weekend will be the Cincinatti Reds.
“It’s very special and I’m excited,” said Helton via the Rockies Website. “The realization is setting in that I’m not playing next year, so to have my jersey retired is a tremendous honor.”
“It’s really cold here now, so it’s probably when I start getting the itch to go south,” Helton said. “But physically and mentally, I’m happy where I am. For the last 10 years when I’ve gone to Spring Training, I know it’s two or three weeks too long, so you just get through it. All of the stuff we go over, if you don’t know it, you should be going to the Minor Leagues. That’s how it is.
“I think when the regular season starts, that’s when it’ll be hard. But I’m happy with what I’m doing. I’m sure there will be plenty of times when I do miss it. That time hasn’t arrived yet.”
Helton will turn 41 just three days after the ceremony. He spent all 17 seasons of his Major League career with the Rockies and finishes his career with a .316/.414/.539 line, 2519 hits, 369 home runs, 1406 RBIs, and 4292 total bases. Helton was also an excellent defensive first baseman, with a great glove and one of the best throwing arms at the position. He was a former college quarterback, and the backup for Peyton Manning at the University of Tennessee.
Helton’s chances of making it to the baseball hall of fame are likely hurt by his various back injuries over the years, as well as the fact that his numbers will be seen to have been inflated by Coors Field. While he is unlikely to get that honor, he is still the greatest player in the Rockies young history, and being the first player in team history to have his number retired is a fitting honor for Helton.
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