Purple Row Rockies Madness: And the winner is...

After 22 days of action, the Purple Row Rockies Madness Tournament has finally crowned its champion! Drum roll please...

★ ★ ★

TODD HELTON! (applause)

Helton won 61% of the final vote, edging out recently elected Hall of Famer Larry Walker. Jorge De La Rosa finished third, beating out Pedro Astacio with 84% of the vote. De La Rosa made the Final Four by upsetting Ubaldo Jiménez in the Elite 8 and was the only non-number one seed to make the Final Four.

In reading the comments, it seemed that most people voted for Helton because of his lasting legacy with this team. Sure, Larry Walker was recently elected to Cooperstown, but The Toddfather helped shape this franchise and some of its current stars, namely Nolan Arenado. He left an enormous hole at first base when he retired — something the Rockies have been unable to fill since then. Helton spent his entire career in Purple Pinstripes and his legacy is ultimately what gave him the edge. And who knows, he may soon join Walker in the Hall of Fame soon.

Here is the final bracket for your reference (and for you to frame alongside the one you filled out, of course).

Thank you for participating in Rockies Madness during this crazy time. This was something that Purple Row hadn’t done and we had a lot of fun doing it, and we welcome feedback if you have any!

As always, stay safe, stay healthy, and go SimRockies!