Todd Helton Reaches MLB Milestone
Colorado Rockies Infielder gets 2,000th Career Hit
The Colorado Rockies have struggled this season, already 12.5 games back of the first place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League’s West division with a 15-24 win/loss record. However, there was some good news this week as first baseman Todd Helton reached the 2,000 hit mark versus the Atlanta Braves.
The Rockies first round pick in 1995, drafted eighth overall, Helton has joined some elite company in reaching the milestone. His 2,000th hit came in his 6,088th at-bat. The three other players to reach the milestone in less than 6,100 at-bats are Hall of Fame members Wade Boggs (5,832 at-bats), Rod Carew (5,965 at-bats) and Tony Gwynn (6,094). Helton, from Knoxville, Tennessee becomes the 255th player to reach 2,000 hits.
Helton’s Career Numbers Impressive
All of Helton’s 1,697 games have been in a Rockies uniform and his career numbers are impressive. He has a .328 career batting average, 314 home runs and 1,138 RBI’s to go along with his 2,000 hits. The highlight of his time in the Rocky Mountains may have been a trip to the World Series in 2007, losing to the Boston Red Sox, but his best year at the plate was in 2000. That season he played in 160 games, had 216 hits, 42 home runs, 147 RBI’s and a .372 batting average.
Wade Boggs Was Fastest to 2,000 Hits
Wade Boggs was the fastest of the four to the 2,000 hit mark, achieving the feat in only 5,832 at-bats during his time with the Boston Red Sox. One of the greatest hitters in baseball, Boggs accumulated 3,010 hits during an eighteen-year career with the Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.
The twelve time All-Star entered the Hall of Fame in 2005 with a .328 career batting average in 2,439 games. His 3,010 hits include 578 doubles and his patience at the plate earned him 1,412 career walks. Drafted in the 1976 draft by Boston in the seventh round, he made his debut in 1982 at the age of twenty-four. He retired as a member of Devil Rays in 1999, playing his final game August 27th, 1999.
Rod Carew Was MLB All-Star Eighteen Times
Rod Carew is behind Boggs as the second fastest to 2,000 hits, doing so in 5,965 at-bats. An eighteen time All-Star, Carew joined the Minnesota Twins organization as a free agent in 1964. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1967 and was the American League MVP in 1977 before a trade sent him to the California Angels in 1979.
In 2,469 career games, he had 3,053 hits and a .328 career batting average. Not a power hitter, he did have 92 home runs and 1,015 RBI’s before retiring in 1985 at the age of thirty-nine. In 1991, Carew entered the Hall of Fame and the Twins and the Angels have retired his number 29.
Tony Gwynn Was Mr. San Diego
Drafted in the third round of the 1981 draft by the San Diego Padres, Gwynn was an All-Star fifteen times in his career and was a 5-time Gold Glove Award winner as well. He was the fourth fastest to 2,000 hits, reaching the mark in 6,094 at-bats. In his career, the Padres Outfielder had 3,141 career hits and a .338 batting average.
His final game came in October 2001 and he joined Boggs and Carew in the Hall of Fame in 2007. Baseball runs in the Gwynn family; Tony Gwynn junior has played 130 career games with the Milwaukee Brewers and is currently on their triple-A squad in Nashville.
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