Todd Helton's 2011 resurgence caught the eye of the Associated Press' Pat Graham and Arnie Stapleton in an article that was picked up by many print and Internet news outlets yesterday. The added media exposure helps keep Helton in the spotlight a bit longer which could eventually help his Hall of Fame case. Helton's currently chasing Hall of Famers and non-Hall of Famers alike in several career statistical categories, what good would your local baseball blog be if we didn't make note of the obscure ones? Here are three:
Career total bases:
- #77 Andres Galarraga 4038
- #92 Larry Walker 3904
- #93 Todd Helton 3900
While Helton's had the most total bases any player while in a Rockies uniform, he still has a little catching up to do to the Big Cat to be the career leader among players that ever wore a Rockies uniform. Helton should pass Walker in the coming week, however.
Career Extra Base Hits:
- #56 Larry Walker 916
- #57 Todd Helton 911
Times on base isn't the only statistic Helton's chasing Walker in.
- #19 Mike Schmidt 600.455
- #20 Todd Helton 596. 951
How clutch is Todd? The definition of this stat according to Baseball-Reference shows it's basically a measure of a player's situational hitting/baserunning:
Given the bases occupied/out situation, how many runs did the batter
or baserunner add in the resulting play.
Compared to average, so 0 is average, and above 0 is better than average
In another more familiar clutch stat, Helton also ranks 33rd overall in career WPA according to Baseball-Reference.
Times on base:
- #43 Alex Rodriguez 3999 (I'm just pointing out that he's close to a nice round number milestone, why isn't this getting press?)
- #92 Julio Franco 3541
- #93 Todd Helton 3537
More links after the jump.
While they gave the division lead back to the Giants last night, the 2011 Rockies have now spent more days in first than all but one other Rockies team, the 1995 wild card winners.
Bruce Jenkins notes the inherent unfairness of the Interleague schedule, and he points out that the Rockies may have a little more reason to complain this year (an opponent win percentage of .522 compared to .506, plus the fact we have to play at Cleveland and Yankee Stadium while the Giants get the Indians at home) but this is something I shrug off. I think eventually, if your team's any good, it should be expected to find a way to beat other good teams or at the very least make up enough ground with the cupcakes. If it doesn't, why complain about missing out on playoffs that the team wasn't competitive enough to deserve in the first place? There are a lot of unfair aspects to sports, if you whine about every single one of them it tends to come off like sour grapes.
Clayton Mortensen is making a case to stick around the rotation with his strong work so far. Given Esmil Rogers' inconsistency, I don't think any Rockies fans will complain about this. I still hope the Rockies can figure out a way to retain Rogers until he matures given the quality his stuff displays at times, though.
Jim Armstrong also notes that the Rockies haven't exactly been gangbusters after their first road trip this season. Maybe they just need another spa/training month in Scottsdale to get things right again.