Nobody will ever win more games than Cy Young. No one will ever play in more consecutive games than Cal Ripken Jr. And no Colorado Rockie will ever draw more walks than Todd Helton. Probably.
While not quite as unbreakable as some records, the distance between Helton and the rest of the pack when it comes to Rockies walks is astronomical.
During his career in purple pinstripes, the Toddfather walked 1,335 times.
That’s 751 more than Larry Walker, who is in second place. In fact, if you add Walker’s total of 584 to third place all-time Troy Tulowitzki’s 435 free passes, you are still 316 walks shy of matching Helton.
While we are combining things, let’s add up places 7-10, Nolan Arenado, Dexter Fowler, Chris Iannetta and (strangely enough) Walt Weiss and, you guessed it, combined they do not match Mr. Rockie.
Active leader Charlie Blackmon sits in fifth place with 414 career walks, meaning he could triple his total and still not overtake the record.
Put another way, Walker (who has the operative word right there in his name) would have had to literally walk about 12.8 miles of basepath before he caught up with the other Rockie who ought to be in the Hall of Fame.
Even if you include No. 33’s time in Montreal and St. Louis, he still falls 422 walks shy of No. 17.
Only 37 players in the history of Major League Baseball have drawn more walks than Helton and almost all of them are enshrined in Cooperstown. He is immediately ahead of icons like Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Mark McGwire, and Ken Griffey Jr.
So while it may not be impossible, we are unlikely to ever see anyone in the Mile High City turn the base on balls into a work of art the way Todd Helton did.
Make sure to keep up with the latest in the world of Colorado Rockies baseball, as well as deep dives on Rockies history with the 20th and Blake Podcast on the Mile High Sports podcast network.
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