COLORADO NEWS

Colorado Rockies legend Todd Helton inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Jul 22, 2024, 9:21 AM | Updated: 11:51 am

Rockies legend Todd Helton has been honored with induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, making him only the second member of the Colorado Rockies to receive this prestigious recognition in Cooperstown.

In his emotional induction speech, Helton shared impactful stories about his career with the Rockies and called Tony Vitello, his college coach at Tennessee, “the best head college coach”

(Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

Todd’s claim to fame could have been that he was the quarterback at the University of Tennessee between future first-round draft picks Heath Schuler and Peyton Manning, but he was destined for bigger things on the baseball diamond.

After a knee injury in 1994 paved the way for Manning to become Tennessee’s quarterback, Todd shifted all his focus to baseball. He was named player of the year by Baseball America.

He was selected by the Colorado Rockies with the number eight overall pick in the 1995 amateur draft and never left the Mile High City. After becoming the starting first baseman in 1995, Helton finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and posted a .315 batting average with 25 home runs and 97 RBIs.

Read more about Helton’s emotional acceptance speech from our partners at Denver Sports.

Denver metro area school district start dates

Colorado News

Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

Colorado has its own ‘Area 51’ and it supposedly has Bigfoot’s body

Area 51 in Nevada gets all the attention for housing aliens and other things the government doesn’t want us knowing about, but did you know Colorado has something similar? The […]

8 minutes ago

Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

Sunflowers are back in Denver, but the one’s at DIA are off-limits – Here’s some that aren’t

I get how important the perfect Instagram photo is, and sunflowers can help create that. However, not all sunflowers are free game in the Denver-area… There are acres of sunflowers […]

12 minutes ago

Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

Denver’s minimum wage is officially going up, will be well over $19 per hour in 2026

I’m probably aging myself by saying this, but I still remember when making $12 per hour was a decent wage… Some hourly Denver workers can expect a pay bump beginning […]

19 minutes ago

Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region...

Shawn Patrick

A dog had to be rescued from the roof of a Colorado mall

File this one in the “how the heck did that happen” category… Somehow a dog got stuck on the roof of a mall in Colorado Springs. Animal Law Enforcement officers […]

51 minutes ago

Michael Ray...

Sarah Baines

Michael Ray | Make-A-Wish show at Number 38

Shawn Patrick and Michael Ray talk about what Ray has been up to, his upcoming Make-A-Wish show at Number 38 in Denver, what the organization means to him, what’s next […]

1 day ago

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

Denver Animal Shelter reduces adoption fees during August

If you’ve thought about adopting a new furry family member, August may be the perfect time to do it in Denver. Throughout August, the Denver Animal Shelter discounts all adoptions by […]

2 days ago

Colorado Rockies legend Todd Helton inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame