Rockies' Todd Helton reaches Hall of Fame, baseball's ultimate mountaintop

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Todd Helton reached the top of the mountain.

Ozzie Smith said the National Baseball Hall of Fame is the peak of performance as a baseball player. The Colorado Rockies great turned Coors Field’s elevated backdrop into his new destination on Sunday alongside fellow 2024 inductees Adrian Beltré, Joe Mauer and Jim Leyland.

He spent his speech giving gratitude.

From the rocks of his life — his wife Christy and two daughters Tierney Faith and Gentry Grace — to athletic trainer Keith Dugger who became not only a friend but a mainstay in his life as he sought to spend each day of his 17 seasons on the field, rather than the injured list.

Christy, as she has each of the speeches throughout his career, was the main architect behind Todd’s words to the Cooperstown crowd. He thanked her for being the backbone of the family while he played.

Leyland told Helton in 1999 that if he continued to play how the skipper saw him, he would one day reach the Hall of Fame. In a swing of fate, they took the stage together on Sunday. Larry Walker joked that he had to run extra hitting in front of Helton, and those hits that taxed his teammate’s legs also delivered him to history.

A fan yelled, “We love you, Todd,” from the back of the crowd.

They loved his tenacity on the field. His ability to hit nearly .400 in 2000 and home runs in his first game and last two at Coors. What they may have appreciated most was his ability to show up each day — tickets for a Rockies game meant seeing Helton, even if his body was fighting the notion.

He played at least 144 games in 11 of his 16 full seasons. The trait is one that Helton thanked his late father Jerry and others for teaching him. He passed away in 2015 at 65 years old.

“This would’ve meant as much, if not more, to him than it does me,” Helton said. “When I was young, my Dad taught me how to swing a bat and pitch a ball. Most importantly, beyond the relentless coaching, my Dad made me believe I could stand up here today.”

Helton had a front-row seat to fellow Hall of Fame talent Peyton Manning at Tennessee. He was a two-sport standout who settled with the Colts and Broncos great behind Jerry Colquitt on the depth chart but took lessons all the same.

A call to Helton after Colquitt’s injury in the 1994 Rose Bowl forced him to empty out the “M&M’s” from his helmet and learn that his path was on a diamond.

The path put him in baseball immortality. It put him on a stage where his state champion Central High School teammates designed custom “Helton” jerseys with Hall of Fame patches and his former No. 16 to honor him — their flights fell prey to CrowdStrike’s tech issues, and they rented three cars to make the drive from Tennessee to upstate New York.

Before his speech, Hall of Fame Board of Directors Chair Jane Forbes Clark read off names of the four fallen Hall of Fame inductees from the past year — Orlando Cepeda, Whitey Herzog, Willie Mays and Brooks Robinson.

Their careers are memorialized in Cooperstown and a moment of silence was required to honor their impact.

Helton joined the same family on Sunday. His plaque detailed the standout seasons he had, loyalty to the Rockies and the path he took to earn the forever-memento in the museum.

When his days of helping minor leaguers, supporting his daughters and dolling out dry humor end, he too will be remembered.

No one forgets those who climb to the top of the mountain. Helton finally reached his summit.