COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — VFL and Knoxville native Todd Helton was officially inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday afternoon in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The first baseman played his entire 17-year MLB career with the Colorado Rockies from 1997 to 2013, and he is the second Rockies player to be voted into the Hall of Fame behind Class of 2020 inductee Larry Walker.
Helton is the first-ever former Tennessee player to be chosen for the honor, and he's just the second former SEC player to make it in. Frank Thomas, who played at Auburn, was inducted in 2014.
No. 17 finally made the cut in his sixth year on the ballot in 2024 with 79.7% of the votes, surpassing the 75% needed to get in. He is joined by fellow players Adrian Beltre and Joe Mauer. Longtime MLB manager Jim Leyland will also be inducted in the 2024 Hall of Fame class as a selection by the Contemporary baseball Committee.
Helton, a Central High School graduate, went on to play at Tennessee where he won the Dick Howser Trophy in 1995 as a junior. That award is given to the top player in college baseball each season.
The Rockies drafted Helton with the eighth overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft, and Helton spent two years in the minors before getting called up the Rockies. Helton's decorated career in Colorado included five MLB All-Star selections, three Golden Gloves and four Silver Sluggers honors. He was also the National League batting champion and MLB RBI leader in 2000.
Helton was the first Rockies' player to have his number retired in Colorado when the team retired his No. 17 in 2014.