Helton was selected by the Colorado Rockies with the No. 8 overall pick in the 1995 amateur draft and never left the Mile High City.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Adrian Beltré, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton were pegged as athletic phenoms from a young age and all three lived up to expectations with their induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
In Beltré’s induction speech, he said he played for his first team at age 13 and was a second baseman because his dad told him that was the position he should play.Beltré played 21 years for the Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers. He became a five-time Gold Glove winner and is the first third baseman with at least 450 home runs and 3,000 hits.
Mauer was a high school phenom in both football and baseball in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was named USA Today’s High School Player of the Year in football in 2000 and baseball in 2001.“It was truly an honor to be a and represent my hometown team,” Mauer said. “Those of you who know me know I’d be more comfortable doing anything other than standing up here talking about myself,” Helton said to open his speech. “I’m just a ballplayer and anyone in the media can attest to that fact.”Watch the video below about January's announcement:
After becoming the starting first baseman in 1995, Helton finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting and posted a .315 batting average with 25 home runs and 97 RBIs. “Just standing back there waiting to go up onto the stage, the guys were so kind, but they all came by and offered me advice,” Helton said. “For me, that was the beginning of feeling that I belong. But we have a players-only dinner tonight and I’ll probably feel like I belong after that.”Former Colorado Rockies player Todd Helton inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Jim Leyland was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.
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