The passion from 17 seasons with one major league club doesn’t wear off easy.
That’s why Todd Helton follows the Rockies closely from his home in Knoxville, Tenn., where the former Colorado first baseman was among the believers that there would be a Rocktober 2018.
“This is what you live for, right here, if you’re playing ball — in September with a chance to make the playoffs,” Helton said last week. “I’d like to see them win the division — mostly because we’ve never done it, and because I don’t like the Dodgers. Love their manager (Dave Roberts), but not a big fan of the Dodgers.”
Helton believes Colorado can catch fire all the way to the World Series, much like the Rockies did in 2007 in a season that included the 45-year-old’s all-time favorite moment as a player — catching the final out of the NLCS at first base.
“At that moment, all that hard work in all the offseasons was realized, and the frustration of all those bad seasons disappeared,” Helton said. “It was kind of an out-of-body experience.”
The five-time all-star finished his career as a .316 lifetime hitter and was ranked the No. 1 Colorado player ever as part of the franchise’s recent All-Time 25 team. Not bad for a guy who admittedly began his career in Denver in the long shadow of Andres Galarraga, his predecessor at first base who led the NL in RBIs the prior season.
“He was coming off a good year in 1997, and I had been in spring training with him. I saw him take batting practice and I knew I couldn’t hit the ball half as far as he did,” Helton recalled. “It was tough. I’d say the first half of the season was the toughest, but there became a point in the season where I kind of got over (trying to match him) and decided I was going to go out and just play hard.”
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