Todd Helton deserves to be in the Hall of Fame

Helton bats in Petco Park

Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies has announced that he will retire from Major League Baseball at the end of this season.  Helton will finish his career having played 17 seasons, all with the Rockies, and having amassed some very impressive career numbers in many offensive and defensive statistical categories.   He deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but I predict he will not make the cut because he played at Coors Field for half his games, and he never won the World Series.



I think baseball writers tend to overestimate the park-effect from Coors Field, and underestimate the effect of playing so many division games on the road in difficult ballparks (Petco Park, Dodger Stadium, and AT&T Park).  This bias within the baseball writer community has also affected MVP votes, which is one of the criteria writers use for determining HOF worthiness.  For instance, in the 2000 season, Helton led the league in hits, batting average, doubles, and RBIs, but he only finished 5th in MVP voting.  Unless opinions change over time, I think this bias will keep Helton's name off too many HOF voters' ballots.

My argument for Helton's induction into the Hall of Fame is this: He has the requisite career statistics.  He has the sustained period at his peak where he was undoubtedly one of the top players in the league.  What his career lacks in team success, he makes up for in his unique importance to the Rockies franchise.  He is Mr. Rockies, and while the Rockies are a relatively new franchise, every franchise's best player should be in the Hall of Fame.

With that said, every Hall of Famer has a signature moment.  Willy Mays catching the ball over his shoulder. Babe Ruth pointing to the fence before hitting a homer.  Hank Aaron rounding the bases after breaking Ruth's career home run record.  My favorite moment of Helton's career has to be the walk-off home-run he hit in 2007 against Saito, the Dodgers closer, to kick-off an unbelievable run that brought the Rockies all the way to the World Series. 

Helton's typical demeaner during a game is stoic, if not grumpy, so to see a burst of emotion like this was startling and inspiring.  Needless to say, I was freaking out with excitement too.

Another iconic moment happened a few weeks later when the Rockies recorded the final out of the National League Championship Series and secured a place in the World Series.  If the Rockies ever put a statue of a player outside Coors Field, this should be it:

If you're a fan of the game, this moment from yesterday's game was pretty awesome too:

The hidden ball trick actually worked!!

This kind of play is why I love baseball, but it's also one of the thousand reasons Todd Helton deserves to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame after he retires.