Former Tennessee and Colorado Rockies’ first baseman Todd Helton is a game-changing player in the world of baseball.
In his fourth year on the Hall of Fame ballot, the former Vol received votes on 52 percent of the ballots that were cast in 2022. While that wasn’t enough to get Helton into the Hall of Fame, it is the highest percentage he has had so far.
According to MLB, Helton had 205 votes in total in 2022.
Helton’s fourth attempt at the Hall of Fame was the closest he has been yet in his 10 allotted attempts. In 2019, Helton earned 16.5 percent of votes, while bumping that number up to 29.2 percent in 2020. Then, in his third year in the polls, Helton once again moved up to 44.9 percent in 2021. And now, in 2022, Helton was at 52 percent.
While it’s disappointing that Helton still isn’t high enough to be an inductee yet, he is certainly trending in an upwards direction in the year-to-year voting.
To be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame, a nominee needs to receive votes on 75 percent of the ballots.
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The 2022 Hall of Fame class was full of notable names – for better or worse. On one hand, major league legend David Ortiz soared past the 75 percent threshold, becoming a first-ballot Hall of Fame player in the process. However, on the other hand, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemmons did not receive enough votes in their final year of allotted attempts respectively. Ortiz is the only inductee from the 2022 class.
After being born in Knoxville, TN, Helton went to Central High School before attending the University of Tennessee on a football and baseball scholarship. Following the 1995 baseball season, Helton was named the Dick Howser National Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year. After his time in Knoxville came to a close, Helton would eventually move onto the big leagues.
Todd Helton finished his MLB career as a five-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove award winner, and a four-time Silver Slugger award winner. Additionally, in the year 2000, Helton won the NL Hank Aaron Award and was crowned the Major League Batting champion.
Helton’s entire major league career, from 1997 to 2013, was spent with the Colorado Rockies. The former Vol’s No. 17 is also retired in Colorado.
