A year after the incident, Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton says it affected his play.
“It was the first time in my life that when I went out and played the game I didn’t feel comfortable on the field,” Helton tells interviewer Drew Goodman on “Spotlight” (9:30 tonight, FSN Rocky Mountain).
Last March, broadcaster Wayne Hagin suggested that Helton had used steroids early in his career. Helton, who seems ready to take command as the senior player on Todd and the Toddlers, was furious.
“I felt like people were looking at me different, and it was just a weird situation I’d never been in before and who knows if it affected how I played.”
Helton struggled early in the 2005 season, hitting only .258, before ending the season with a flourish at .320. Only hard work saved the season. “I gave everything I had to get back to where I was at. To me, it was my best year.”
In the interview taped last week at Helton’s condo in Tucson, he tells Goodman, “I know it affected how I felt out there because to me that’s my little sanctuary where I can go and play. It’s the first time I got out there and I didn’t feel right in my own skin.”
Eventually, he put it behind him. “I knew what I had to do and I just finally went out and did it on a daily basis.”
Hagin, a former broadcaster for the Rockies and the Cardinals, apologized to Helton, who responded by saying, “I will never talk to Hagin again.”
Farewell for Max
Max Falkenstien may not have seen it all, but he’s seen a lot of it.
The University of Kansas broadcaster covers his last KU-Colorado basketball game in Lawrence on Wednesday. He’s announced that this season, his 60th, will be his last.
Falkenstien, 81, broadcast his first KU game on March 18, 1946. He worked as the Jayhawks’ play-by-play man for 39 years, then switched to color in 1984.
Around the dial
KCCY, KIBT, KKLI AND KVUU, Clear Channel radio stations in Colorado Springs, collecting funds for the Officer Jared Jensen Memorial Fund. Jensen was shot and killed making an arrest last Wednesday. Donations may be made at 719-540-9200 … “Colorado Inside Out Live: “Meth Use in Colorado,” hosted by Peter Boyles, looks at methamphetamine abuse. It follows a “Frontline” show on the same topic (7 p.m. Wednesday, KBDI-Channel 12) … The three-day “Alice’s 36 Hours for Kids,” sponsored by KALC 105.7-FM, raised a record $1.1 million for The Children’s Hospital … KBCO 97.3 looking for entries to compete in the 27th annual Kinetics race May 6 at the Boulder Reservoir. Details for human-powered crafts available at KBCO.com … Quotable: “I’m the most superstitious person in the whole world. It’s ridiculous.” Todd Helton
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
