What Todd Helton said about making the National Baseball Hall of Fame  

Former Tennessee baseball superstar Todd Helton was named a member of the three-man National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Tuesday night and will be formally inducted into Cooperstown on Sunday, July 21 alongside Adrian Beltre and Joe Mauer.

Shortly after the announcement presentation on the MLB Network, Helton answered questions from both national and local media members.

Todd Helton Hall of Fame Press Conference Transcript  

Helton’s opening remarks…

“First of all, I’d like to thank the baseball writers for electing me. I know that’s a huge honor and it’s very humbling that I got in. I need to thank my mom and dad, and my family who supported me the whole time. Dick Monfort [Rockies CEO] was great to me. All the Rockies fans. I was very lucky to get drafted by Colorado.

Not only is it a good place to hit it, but it also has great fans. Just good people running the organization. It was 17 good years. I’m not going to lie, I miss it. I didn’t think I would, but I missed the competition of going out and playing every day.”

On waiting over the years to get into the Hall of Fame…

“Yeah, it’s crazy. I think I would use that word to validate it. I was talking to my wife, and that’s kind of one thing I said that kind of everything I’ve done – it really did happen. It was good enough to make it to the Hall of Fame. My dad was very hard on me. But when I would go 1-for-3 and you know, that’s a bad day when you’re young. he’d say 1-for-3 gets you in the Hall of Fame.

He was tough on me, but he did say things like that too – that helped me. I knew about the Hall of Fame when I was eight years old, just from my dad playing baseball. It’s not the reason I played or by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m very happy that I made it. Let, let’s say that.”

On if this could open the door for future Hall of Famers from the Rockies…

“I think Larry Walker moved that needle more than me. He paved the way for me and I’ve got to thank him too. He made it all right for the voters to vote for a Colorado position player. It’s kind of weird in Colorado. Your pitchers get hurt. They say they can’t throw it in thin air. Hitters get dinked because they play at Colorado.

You don’t get to pick where you play, and you always want to hit better at your home park. I’m not embarrassed or anything about my home and road numbers. Going on the road after hitting in Colorado is hard. The ball breaks more. It’s a huge adjustment going through the season, going through that, that rigorous grind of being able to make those changes mid-season. It is a good place to hit, but there were some drawbacks, some toughness about going and playing there.”

On a possible trade to the Red Sox prior to the 2007 season and how he enjoyed spending his whole career with one team…

“It’s crazy because we obviously ended up playing the Red Sox in the World Series and they throttled us. But I think making it with the team that I struggled with and watched build, help build and put my heart and soul into for all those years. I mean, losing in the World Series [with Colorado] meant more than winning it somewhere else.”

On stepping into the lineup as a full-time player, filling Andres Galarraga’s shoes…

“He’s a great player and obviously there’s pressure going in and replacing somebody like that. Not only a good player, but a fan favorite. He’s a great guy. He helped me a lot defensively. He talked to me – he didn’t have to do all that stuff, but in spring training, he was great to me. The thing about Andres, when he hit the ball, it made a different sound. So, when I first got to watch him hit, I was like, oh God, I don’t know if I can do this.

The first part of the year, I guess the first half of ‘98, I was waiting for the call every day to get sent down. That’s how bad I was struggling. I decided to do two things. I was not going to focus on my hitting. I was going to focus on my defense – just to change it up. And I tried to get outside of myself and help somebody else instead of worrying about myself all the time. It picked me up. It was a good way to not focus on hitting, because I didn’t let myself eat if I didn’t get a hit in my first couple of years. I was very hard on myself.

It took me years to realize that I got to take care of myself. It’s a long season. But Andres was great. There was a lot of pressure there. I think at the All-Star break, I had eight home runs and ended up with 25. I got hot. I got to play with Greg Colburn and he played against the lefties my first half of that year. The Rockies did a great job of not putting me in a position where I was overmatched.

Every game that Colburn played against the lefty, I went into Don Baylor’s office and sat down and looked at him and said, ‘why am I not playing today?’ And he’d tell me – he was great, loved him – he said alright, we got a right-hander going tomorrow. You get three hits, I’ll play you against the lefty the next day. That’s all I asked for. I ended up getting three hits and I played against the lefty. I ended up getting more hits. Next thing you know, they traded Greg Colburn.”

On a time where he had a lot of fun or showed emotion on the field…

“The most emotional moment was when II caught the ball and I realized we were going to go to a World Series. Other than that, it’s the home run in that doubleheader to sweep the Dodgers. There’s a lot of good moments. 2007 season obviously was my favorite season. I enjoyed winning. Every game we won was a good game and I was excited. I think that’s huge for a team. We started making a huge difference if we won or lost. I think that helped. It was something we did on our own. It was a big deal to lose, and it was a big deal to win. It kind of changed the perception of what we were trying to do a little bit.”

On if playing quarterback had any affect on him as a baseball player as well…

“I was fortunate at the University of Tennessee. I had coach Phillip Fulmer and coach David Cutcliffe. They were baseball fans, so they let me concentrate on baseball in baseball season. Once we went into team – I did all the individual at practice, and then we’d break for team and the kickers would run in and I’d run in with them and go down to the cage and hit and miss the second half of practice. They never knew I was gone. All of our tests – all of the stuff that we had to learn from coach Cutcliffe, there was always a baseball saying in the back. For instance, one of them was don’t be a dirt kicker. That stayed with me. Don’t show your emotion and don’t show the other team that you’re mad. Yeah, I broke many bats and many helmets, but it was under the tunnel where no kid could see.

I think in football, you practice, and everything is focused on that one game. That one week. I kind of took that football mentality into baseball. I just let it out every game and played every game like it was my last. At least I tried to. I think football mentality helped me a lot in my day-to-day work. Playing baseball, and football in college too, they asked me what the hardest thing to do [was, and it’s manager your time.

Not only are you watching film and playing baseball and hitting the cage, but you also got to at least try to go to school. It was hard and I learned what was important. I learned a lot in college. I wasn’t ready as a high schooler to go out and play. I grew up a lot and made a lot of good friends. It was a great time in my life. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

On his thoughts about playing with Peyton Manning at Tennessee…

“Oh, I knew that first meeting we went into without even seeing him on the field. He knew the offense better than I did. I’ve been there three years. He came in and raising his hand, answering questions. I called him a teacher’s pet a few times. I got to play with Heath Shuler too – came in second in the Heisman. So, I realized real quick that I wasn’t going to be an NFL quarterback. I mean, football was paying my way to college, but I definitely focused on baseball.”

On how he never got burnt out on baseball and how he passed the time waiting for the announcement…

“Good question. Today was rough. I went and got physical therapy. So, [I] stretched and worked on my back, trying to get my golf game right. So, that’s what I did today. I took two hours out of my day, so that was big. After that, it went real slow.  

Competitive wise, all the way. I don’t know. I always wanted to win, which is crazy as I’m not that competitive now as I used to be. I think after playing that many years in the big leagues, your level of competition and games that you play, kind of drops off a little from your, from your golf game. So, I was the most superstitious guy in the world. I hadn’t been superstitious in 10 years until today.”

On hitting .372 in 2000 and if there was pressure to hit .400 on the year…

“There was pressure – I felt it. Did I think I was going to hit 400? I got to 400 during a game in August. I didn’t get a hit the next day, so I ended up at like a .397 or .398. I thought there was a chance. Buddy Bell was the manager and he said he wasn’t going to give a day off and he [said I] wasn’t going to sit any – that I was going to go out and play, which I liked. I was a big fan of that. We played the Braves and faced [Greg] Maddux and I hit the ball hard, but right at everybody. That was the downfall of .400 right there. I went into a little tailspin right there. But, you know, .372 is still a good number.”