Rare breed: Colorado's Todd Helton has spent his whole career with Rockies

DENVER - For a person of his stature, first baseman Todd Helton has had what many describe as a borderline Hall of Fame career well under the radar.

Not that the 6-foot-2 Helton is the type who seeks publicity, but as he and the Rockies begin a three-game series on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies, his efforts these days are receiving even less attention.

Both Helton and the Rockies have been struggling. Colorado is 25-40 and has lost 10 of its last 11. Helton, meanwhile, is batting .242 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs.

In this era of transient athletes, Helton is a rarity, having played his entire career with the Rockies after being selected in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1995 draft.

He says it's been special to have just one professional employer.

"I've been very fortunate and I look at it as an honor and a gift that they have kept me around here this long," Helton said during the Rockies' home series at Coors Field with the Los Angeles Angels in early June. "I attribute it to putting my head down and working hard and keeping my mouth shut and hopefully help the younger players out as much as I can, but it's one of those things of being in the right place at the right time."

Helton turns 39 on Aug. 20 and is signed through next season. In recent years, a sore back has limited him, but Helton did hit as high as .302 last year. As far as how long he will play, Helton says he is taking things year by year.

Helton is a five-time all-star and a three-time Gold Glove winner at first base. Statistics can be used any way to slant a perspective. A set of statistics that shows Helton's versatility is that he became the first player in major-league history to have at least 2,270 hits, 1,280 runs, 430 doubles, 330 home runs, 1,250 RBIs and 1,200 walks before playing in his 2,000th major-league game.

For his career, Helton has a .321 average with 2,407 hits, 566 doubles, 354 home runs, 1,340 RBIs and a .966 OPS.

Helton says he was always going to be a baseball player even though an injury to starting quarterback Jerry Colquitt in the 1994 season opener earned him the starting job for the University of Tennessee.

Helton beat out a highly touted player for the spot - then-freshman Peyton Manning. In a 24-21 loss on Sept. 24, 1994, against Mississippi State, Helton suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament. He was replaced by Manning, who became the school's all-time passing leader.

"Whether I got hurt or not, he was going to be the quarterback eventually and I was just keeping the seat warm," Helton said. "It was actually a blessing I got hurt and Peyton got to take over and become what he is and I got to become a baseball player, which is what I wanted."

One of Helton's top memories in baseball was the 2007 season when the Rockies qualified for the playoffs for only the second time in team history and the first time in his career.

And the Rockies, who had to beat San Diego in a one-game playoff just to reach the postseason, swept the Phillies in three games in the National League division series. Colorado then swept Arizona in the NLCS before being swept by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

"I have had so many good memories in this game, but I'd have to say making it to the World Series is the best," said Helton, whose only other postseason appearance was 2009 when the Phillies defeated the Rockies in the NLDS. "You want to win a World Series, but getting there is something and it's been the greatest so far."

As for his Hall of Fame credentials, it's a topic that makes him uncomfortable.

"I don't talk about stuff like that," he said politely. "I don't play the game to make the Hall of Fame - I play the game because I love it and because of my teammates and the fans who come and sit in the seats."

For his work on the field and influence in the clubhouse, Helton is recognized as a franchise icon.

"When I first got called up, you would watch him work and go about his business and you realized there is a reason why he is so great," said the Rockies two-time all-star shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki, currently sidelined with a strained left groin. "He puts in the time. He is such a class act and somebody who will be remembered here a long time."