6 reasons Todd Helton belongs in the Hall

Todd Helton has been trending in the appropriate path over the primary 4 years of his eligibility on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Hall of Fame poll. Last 12 months, he garnered 52 p.c of the vote, with 75 p.c wanted for election and enshrinement in Cooperstown.

As he seeks to maybe break the 60-percent barrier or past this 12 months, getting him ever nearer to election, here is a have a look at six explanation why Helton ought to have a plaque hanging within the hallowed gallery of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Let’s cope with Coors proper off the bat: Helton’s highway numbers are Hall-worthy

Helton performed his whole 17-year MLB profession with the Rockies, which suggests he performed all of his dwelling video games on the hitter’s paradise that’s Coors Field. So, naturally, the Hall of Fame voter has to take note of whether or not the inevitably inflated numbers from half a profession hitting within the altitude of Denver are sufficient to disqualify Helton from a spot in Cooperstown.

Stripping out his Coors Field numbers completely, Helton was an excellent hitter. In 4,612 highway plate appearances, the slugging first baseman hit .287/.386/.469 with 142 dwelling runs. His .855 OPS away from his dwelling ballpark is increased than the highway OPS of Hall of Famers Dave Winfield (.841), Eddie Murray (.838), Rickey Henderson (.836), Tony Gwynn (.835), Al Kaline (.827) and George Brett (.826), amongst others.

And in relation to on-base share, Helton’s .386 OBP on the highway is increased than Hall of Famers Rod Carew (.385), Gwynn (.384), Honus Wagner (.383), Willie Mays (.382), Eddie Mathews (.382), Joe Morgan (.380), Tim Raines (.378), Vladimir Guerrero (.376), Fred McGriff (.376), Frank Robinson (.376), Harmon Killebrew (.373), Willie McCovey (.372), Derek Jeter (.370), Helton’s former teammate Larry Walker (.370), Hank Aaron (.369), Kaline (.369), Duke Snider (.369) and the record goes on.

Helton’s highway stats are Hall-worthy, and that is not even counting his unbelievable numbers at Coors Field.

He was fairly good at Coors, too

We’ve addressed the Coors situation by taking Coors out of the image. Now, let’s deliver it again in, as a result of how unbelievable do your numbers should be in altitude to show you are an excellent hitter?

Helton’s are phenomenal, which, even with the Coors low cost, make his Hall of Fame case a powerful one. In 4,841 dwelling plate appearances, he hit .345/.441/.607 with 227 dwelling runs on the nook of twentieth and Blake Street in Lower Downtown Denver.

He received many accolades, and may’ve had extra

Helton was way more than an excellent hitter — he performed nice protection at first base, as effectively. That’s evidenced by his three profession Gold Glove Awards (2001, ’02 and ’04). He was additionally chosen as an All-Star 5 instances and a Silver Slugger Award winner 4 instances.

In 2000, he had the best all-around season of any participant within the National League by a number of measures, however he was not voted the league’s Most Valuable Player — that honor went to Giants second baseman Jeff Kent.

But ought to it have actually gone to Kent?

Kent had an incredible 2000 marketing campaign, however Helton’s was merely higher — Helton’s 8.9 Baseball Reference wins above substitute have been practically two wins higher than Kent (7.2), and the second-highest bWAR within the NL that season belonged to Andruw Jones (8.2). Helton received the slash line Triple Crown within the NL that 12 months, hitting .372/.463/.698, along with his batting common and slugging share main the Majors. He additionally had MLB’s highest OPS amongst certified hitters, at 1.162. Yet he completed fifth in NL MVP voting.

Lest you are tempted to deliver Coors up, Helton slashed .353/.441/.633 away from dwelling in 2000. He might simply have an MVP Award to his title from that season.

Back accidents slowed Helton towards the tip of his profession, however he had one of many all-time nice peaks from 2000-05. Over that six-season span, solely two gamers produced extra bWAR than Helton’s 42.1: Alex Rodriguez (52.9) and Barry Bonds (51.7). And solely Bonds (240), Albert Pujols (167), Jason Giambi (166) and Manny Ramirez (165) had the next OPS+ amongst certified batters than Helton’s 158 in that interval.

He’s the all-time face of the Rockies’ franchise

The first Rockies participant to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Walker, could have been the most effective all-around participant to ever swimsuit up for Colorado, however Helton is undeniably “Mr. Rockie.” No. 17 spent his whole 17-year profession with the membership, and he helped lead it to its solely World Series berth in 2007.

Helton is on the middle of numerous iconic franchise moments and milestones, and his No. 17 was the primary to be retired by the Rockies (Walker’s 33 is the one different quantity the group has retired). The “Toddfather,” as he’s affectionately identified in Colorado, is the best Rockie of all of them.

He matches proper in with the present first basemen in Cooperstown

According to Jay Jaffe’s JAWS system of score gamers at every place, Helton ranks fifteenth all-time amongst first basemen. That’s increased than Hall of Famers Murray, Hank Greenberg, George Sisler, Bill Terry, Killebrew, McGriff, Orlando Cepeda, Gil Hodges and others.

Compared with the common Hall of Fame first baseman, Helton fares effectively. He produced 61.8 profession WAR per Baseball Reference (the common Hall of Fame first baseman’s WAR is 65). His seven-year peak WAR (the WAR from his finest seven-year stretch) was considerably increased than the common Hall of Fame first baseman’s 41.8, at 46.6.

Helton’s 54.2 JAWS score is increased than the common Hall of Fame first baseman’s 53.4, and his 4.5 WAR per 162 video games additionally stacks up favorably with the 4.8 from the common first baseman enshrined in Cooperstown.