Wow! Helton makes himself at home

By Steve Williams

Fountain City Ball Park, Lindsey Nelson Stadium and Coors Field. They were homes away from home for Todd Helton in his baseball career.

Sunday he was welcomed into a new home at 25 Main Street, Cooperstown, New York. The National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Helton, a Knoxville product who starred at Central High School and the University of Tennessee before playing 17 seasons with the Colorado Rockies, is one of only 273 major league players in the Hall of Fame.

He joined former Colorado teammate Larry Walker as the Rockies’ only Hall of Famers and also is only the second player from the Southeastern Conference to be so honored, with Frank Thomas of Auburn being the first.

“The recognition of the Cooperstown enshrinement is special,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey last week. “I grew up about two hours from Cooperstown and made several trips there when I was young and even as an adult.

“Of any Hall of Fame, that one you walk into and it’s a ‘wow moment,’ so congratulations to Todd and to everyone around him for the chance to celebrate … but (also) to feature that wow moment for a University of Tennessee alum.”

Helton, a lefty-lefty, was a 5-time All-Star, 3-time Gold Glove first baseman and a 4-time Silver Slugger with a .316 career batting average that included 592 doubles and 369 home runs.

Todd’s display in the Hall of Fame includes a UT helmet as a tribute to his days as a football player, too.