Todd Helton is a tremendous baseball player. This is like saying pizza tastes yummy. Regardless, Todd Helton is a great baseball player.
I read something recently in which former Rockies’ and Royals’ manager Buddy Bell said that Helton understood the competitiveness of baseball better than anyone he had ever met. I don’t know what that statement means, but it’s quite a significant thing to say. For starters, it’s significant because there are more than a handful of guys in the big leagues that would thrash out their mother’s larynx if it gave them an edge in a game.
It’s also significant because Buddy Bell is a link to a baseball legacy. Buddy was an All-Star, his father was an All-Star, and his son, David, enjoyed a long career in the big leagues. This means that baseball isn’t just a game or a job to the Bells – it’s the familt business. It runs deep.
So yes, Todd Helton is a fantastic player. He is also appearing in the first post-season of his 11-year career, covering 1,578 games. That should worry Charlie Manuel and the Phillies a little bit, because Helton is not going to take his first-ever series lightly.
My guess is he attempts to thrash out a larynx if given the chance.
Hamels rebounded after his mulligan to retire the Rockies in order in the third. However, it took him 20 more pitches, which puts him at 71.
Be that as it may, Hamels got the Phillies first playoff hit in 14 seasons with one out in the third. Had Francis gotten two more outs without giving up a hit we would have opened up the no-hitter pool here in the press box. Earlier this summer I got my first-ever win in the no-hitter pool – that’s $55 coming back.
Yeah, boy.
Anyway, Jimmy Rollins took care of those last two outs by grounding into an around-the-horn double play.