29 years later, Todd Helton's domination of Clemson in 1995 CWS still has Tim Corbin in awe

Shane Monahan’s helmet was history.

The Clemson star trudged into the dugout at Rosenblatt Stadium after an infuriating at-bat against Todd Helton and snapped. He wrecked his helmet and yelled at the pitcher’s mound, daring the Tennessee baseball pitcher to throw him a fastball.

Tim Corbin can still remember the depth of frustration that boiled over in the Clemson dugout that day in Omaha, Nebraska.

Helton caused it.

“It was a throwback effort,” said Corbin, then a Clemson assistant coach. “It was something you’d see in the '60s. Throw away the charts. Throw away the pitch count. It doesn’t matter. He is going to stay on the mound. … They just don’t make people like that anymore.”

Helton is headed into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday for his hitting prowess in 17 seasons with the Colorado Rockies. But in one of his final games in a Tennessee uniform, Helton made a legendary start: He hurled a complete-game, nine-strikeout, four-hit masterpiece in a 3-1 Vols win in the College World Series in June 1995 against Clemson.

This is what happened that day.

When Clemson knew it might be in trouble with Todd Helton on the mound

Monahan was sure the Tigers would face R.A. Dickey in the first game for both teams in the CWS. Helton had only started three games all season and Dickey was the hard-throwing ace of the Tennessee staff.

Then Helton breezed out of the dugout as Monahan walked to the on-deck circle.

“Helton had the different mystique about him,” said Corbin, the two-time national championship coach at Vanderbilt. “It was his way. It was how he carried himself. It was that Paul Bunyan character you see on a baseball field that had a different feel about him. He was a winning player.”

That made Helton the most dangerous player on the field in Corbin’s estimation. He had stop-and-watch hitting skills and now was on the mound in a major moment.

Clemson had already seen — and beaten — Helton, though. The Tigers faced Tennessee in a pair of midweek games in March. They saw Helton in the second one and dinged him with three runs in three innings with a walk-off 7-6 win in 10 innings.

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Monahan homered in that game at Clemson. He singled leading off the bottom of the first in Omaha and felt good. Clemson had a powerful lineup filled with highly regarded prospects, including two players picked in the top-35 of the MLB Draft two days prior in Monahan and first baseman David Miller.

Monahan stole his way into scoring position. He watched from there as Helton struck out shortstop Doug Livingston and Miller.

“I thought we were in trouble then,” Monahan said.

The Tigers didn't get another hit until a Miller single in the fourth inning.

Todd Helton’s pitch mix, arm slots made him lethal on the mound

Matthew LeCroy got a text from a baseball colleague in January.

It was a clip of the then-freshman Clemson catcher flailing at a Helton changeup in the College World Series. The message included a question: Did LeCroy remember the at-bat? He absolutely did.

Helton’s changeup was unfair, part of an arsenal littered with movement that Miller described as “disgusting” and left the Tigers confounded.

“It wasn’t that he threw hard,” said LeCroy, an eight-year big-leaguer and the manager of the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. “He could change speeds and you never knew what to expect. He changed arm angles. He gave you different kinds of looks. He just never really did the same thing twice.”

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Helton was a true two-way player, a pitcher and a hitter. He was 19-5 with a 2.24 ERA, which ranks fourth in Vols history. His 0.89 ERA in 1994 remains a Tennessee record and his 1.66 ERA in 1995 is the fifth-best mark.

The Knoxville Central product did it with a big-time pitch repertoire and a blend of three arm slots — over the top, three-quarters and sidearm. Three pitches with three arm slots made for brutal at-bats.

“He drops down and you don’t know if he is throwing a fastball or a slider,” said Monahan, who played two seasons in the majors with Seattle. "He is essentially throwing nine pitches.”

Helton got LeCroy to whiff at a changeup from a low slot that darted away from the right-handed hitter in the fourth inning. He went more over the top to get Paul Galloway on a sweeping breaking ball in the fifth. He followed it with a sidearm fastball that Jerome Robinson chased down and out.

"He was just a funky lefty and you could never hit him,” Corbin said. “He is playing Wiffle ball in the backyard. You can’t get off a swing. … He just went right through us.”

To LeCroy, Helton was "an animal” on the mound.

Why Todd Helton was a savvy choice against the Clemson lineup

Miller quickly recalled his performance against Helton. He was 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.

The latter was the easiest thing to remember. It was Miller’s only two-strikeout game in the 183 games he played for Clemson.

“He made me look stupid both times,” said Miller, now the coach of La Salle.

Helton gave Tennessee an edge against the Clemson, which relied heavily on left-handed hitters. Monahan was a lefty. So was Miller as the No. 3 hitter and outfielder Gary Burnham in the cleanup spot. Seven-hitter Will Duffie was the fourth lefty in the lineup.

The group accounted for three of the four hits against Helton. It also accounted for four of the strikeouts with Duffie joining Miller in the two-strikeout department.

Corbin said the left-handed hitters had no shot against Helton, who dotted fastballs on the corner and baffled with his offspeed pitches.

“I was sitting over there helpless,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “He was able to throw strikes and put the ball where he wanted to and he was a tremendous competitor.”

Miller likened Helton’s work in Omaha to Atlanta Braves great and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine. He recalled the Vols pitcher slowly expanding the strike zone as the game went on and getting calls.

“It would start three or four inches off the plate and he would get a foot by the end of the game,” Miller said.

That was the case in the eighth when Miller struck out looking on an outside fastball. He started to run to first, hoping and wishing for a different outcome.

Why Todd Helton was harder to face because he was Todd Helton

Monahan is an intense competitor. That is why he called out for Helton’s fastball. He wanted that challenge even though he knows that’s not how the game works.

He paid Helton the highest of compliments by calling him “the ultimate competitor.”

From Leggett to LeCroy, that is what everyone at Clemson experienced in that College World Series start.

“It is the human that is throwing the ball,” Corbin said. “It is the fiber of the kid. It is the human being with the ball that makes the difference and that is what I thought was different.”

Helton had 12 saves in 26 relief appearances in 1995. He started four games. He threw a complete game in all four.

He was simply different. The Tigers knew it already. Miller spent time with Helton in the Cape Cod League. Monahan had battled against Helton dating back to high school summer tournaments in Georgia. Their experiences were consistent.

Helton knew he was the best player at all times. Pair that with a massive competitive drive and you get a pitching performance like Helton’s after he was picked No. 8 in the MLB Draft. It makes sense now to Leggett after all Helton achieved in the major leagues. You can only reach such levels by having something special about you — and it was clear Helton did.

“When he needed to be the guy, he stepped up and was the guy,” Miller said. “That is what made Todd Helton into Todd Helton.”

Helton threw 107 pitches against Clemson. He fired a final fastball in the ninth inning to Clemson shortstop Seth Brizek, who feebly popped up into shallow right field.

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Second baseman Ed Lewis settled beneath the ball. Helton raised his arms in the air, facing the Tennessee dugout before the ball was caught.

It was Helton's final start at Tennessee and he was helmet-smashing good.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ ByMikeWilson . If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: 29 years later, Todd Helton's domination of Clemson in 1995 CWS still has Tim Corbin in awe