Class of Distinction

By Alexander Tam

Editorial. Photos by AP News

There are some players that are more than just athletes.

Before you decide not to read this article about my man crush Todd Helton, and before you decide that the Rockies are just a streaky lucky team, this article is more than just about Todd Helton.

On a beautiful sunny day, a thought came to me. Earlier in the day I was logging footage for the Red Sox of their 1956 and 1957 teams. Later that night I saw that Shaq had been traded to the Cavs. I realized that sports were different back then. To quote the Red Sox great Fred Lynn, “The rookies had to earn the respect of the veterans, not the other way around.” Why are we so eager to brush off the “old” veterans? Countless times I’ve had people tell me that Todd Helton is over the hill, old, and was never even that great to begin with.

Here are the facts about Todd:

He’s 36 years old. He’s a career .328 hitter and has batted below .300 in a season only twice. And for one of those years, he was injured. He’s a three time gold glove winner, four time All-Star, four time silver slugger, and recipient of the Hank Aaron award. Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds have won multiple Hank Aaron awards *. And to top it all off, Helton is batting .317 with 9 homers and 49 RBIs. And if you even start to say he’s overrated because of Coors field, tell it to his Hank Aaron award, and his 2,000 hits. Also mention it to his 17 HR and 92 RBI since 2006 away from Coors, compared to his 22 HR and 109 RBI at home. They look fairly similar if you ask me.

But the real heart behind the article is not about stats. The real thing I want to point out is that he has spent all of his years, has hit all 2,000 of his hits, with the Colorado Rockies. That’s something you almost never see. The only other player that has stuck with his first team for that long that comes to mind is veteran John Smoltz, who’s tenure with Atlanta abruptly ended after the 2009 season. To explain to you what kind of connection happens when a player sticks through thick and thin with an organization for that long, I will refer to a story I heard.

As Last Call co-host Ian Tasso was working the Braves Red Sox game, he ran into a Braves fan and started making conversation. They got to talking about Derek Lowe and eventually arrived on the subject of John Smoltz He was suppose to make his pitching debut at Fenway against the Braves, but was pushed back a couple of days, most likely because Smoltz refused to play against his former Braves. Ian asked the Braves fan what he would do if Smoltz started against the Braves, and the guy said, “I think I would cry.” He then said that we could poke fun at him all we like, but he knows that most of his friends would do the same.

I myself tried to imagine Todd Helton on another team and nausea immediately set it accompanied with severe depression.

Baseball is a game of controlling one’s frustration, putting bad days behind you, doing whatever it takes to win, and day in day out dedication. When an individual goes through that roller coaster ride, shows that kind of commitment to a single team in his entire career, it’s something special. These days it’s all about money for players. One year they play for this team, the next they play for that team. It’s difficult to get attached to players because before you know it, they are off in different colors. Helton reminds me of the good old days of John Elway. He stuck with Denver from start to finish. Here is a man that went to the Super Bowl three times and lost. Not till the last 2 years of his career did he finally get the rings. John had to wait nearly 7 years to achieve his dream, and not once did he demand a trade just so he could win. The same goes for Todd.

I’ve done my best, but words can’t describe how much a man like Todd Helton and John Elway mean to Denver fans. They are two extraordinarily talented athletes that we can truly call our own.