Todd Helton elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
Todd Helton is officially a Hall-of-Famer.
Helton was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday evening. He’s joined in the class by longtime greats Joe Mauer and Adrian Beltré. This was Helton’s 6th year to appear on the ballot.
Helton, who missed out on induction last year by just 11 votes, received 79.7% of the possible votes on this year’s ballot.
Rock on!
Todd Helton is a Hall of Famer! pic.twitter.com/rO4NxwKvmf
— MLB (@MLB) January 23, 2024
Helton played both baseball and football for Tennessee before beginning his pro baseball career. In 1994, Helton served as Peyton Manning’s primary backup at quarterback. He completed 33-of-66 passes for 406 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Of course, Helton’s primary strength was on the baseball diamond. Helton was the No. 8 overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. He spent his entire career playing with Colorado before ultimately retiring in 2013.
Helton’s career statistics include a .316 batting average, 2,519 hits and 369 home runs across 17 MLB seasons. He’s widely-regarded as one of the best players in the history of the Colorado Rockies franchise. In addition to his offensive prowess, he also won 3 Gold Glove Awards as a 1st baseman.
Helton led the Rockies to a World Series appearance in 2007. The Rockies lost to the Boston Red Sox in that World Series, but Helton did his part by hitting .333 with a pair of doubles across 4 games in that series.
Helton is just the second former SEC baseball player to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The first was Auburn’s Frank Thomas, who was inducted in 2014.
The 2024 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Cooperstown on July 21.
Featured image provided via UT Athletics.