For Helton, Hall is accessible through shrinking window

DENVER -- No pressure or anything, but the next three games will determine whether the Colorado Rockies can win the World Series -- and whether Todd Helton can get into the Hall of Fame.

These next three games against Boston, the only three games the 2007 World Series will spend at Coors Field, obviously are huge for Colorado -- but for the Rockies this isn't a one-shot deal. Give them enough time, and the Rockies will return to the World Series. It could take years or even decades, but it'll happen. Everyone returns to the World Series eventually. Ask the Cubs. OK, bad example.

Todd Helton is 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI in the World Series. (US Presswire)

But for Helton, who is 34, this first appearance in the World Series could also be his last appearance in the World Series. Which means this could be his last shot not only to win a ring, but to win over the skeptical Hall of Fame voters who don't know yet what to make of his legacy.

Helton's failing miserably at both.

The Rockies trail Boston 2-0 in the best-of-7 series, and Helton hasn't done much. He has two hits in two games. He has one RBI, and while he did drive in the Rockies' only run in their Game 2 loss, it was an RBI groundout with runners on second and third. Over the next three games the Rockies will need a lot more than RBI groundouts from Helton to keep pace with the Red Sox. Helton's Hall of Fame candidacy also needs a boost.

One World Series is a ridiculously small sample size for an 11-year major league veteran like Helton, way too small to have a fair impact on Helton's Hall of Fame candidacy. But fair or not, it is what it is. And Helton's problem is this: Nobody knows exactly what he is.

Is he one of the game's best all-around offensive players, or is he a product of Coors Field? He's both. He's baseball's No. 2 active hitter with a .332 career average. That ranks him 30th all-time, and most of the 29 players ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame. Given that, Helton would seem a lock for the Hall of Fame.

But he's not. Numerous Hall of Fame voters are covering this World Series, and I've talked to a bunch of them about Helton. Not one says Helton is on a pace that would make him a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, though most say they are willing to consider him in a favorable light when his career ends. The problem, they all say, is Coors Field.

Helton has spent his entire career in the high altitude of Colorado. At home he is a .367 hitter. On the road his average is .295. Over a span of 1,578 games, that is a damning sample size. Clearly .367 hitters get into the Hall of Fame. But .295 hitters? Not unless they mash the ball, and Helton hasn't been that kind of hitter on the road.

Put it this way: Broken down into 162-game segments, Helton's home production comes out to a .367 average with 37 home runs and 133 RBI. Those are first-ballot Hall of Fame numbers.

But on the road, Helton's 162-game production is .295 with 24 home runs and 89 RBI. That's not immortal. That's a less productive Garret Anderson, or a more consistent George Hendrick. Nice players. But not Hall of Famers.

Poll Is Todd Helton a future Hall of Famer? 45% No   55% Yes   Total Votes: 1554

Coors Field has had the ball-moistening humidor since 2002, and while that has dramatically lowered its number of home runs, Coors remains a hitter's ballpark. It's the biggest field in baseball, which means more space for balls to drop safely for hits. Since the humidor, Helton's batting average has been almost 60 points higher at home than on the road. And even with the help of Coors Field, Helton's last four years -- some of the prime years of his career -- have seen him average 20 homers and 88 RBI. Not Hall of Fame numbers.

Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd knows Coors Field will be a factor for Helton's Hall of Fame candidacy, but says it would be unfair if Denver keeps Helton out of Cooperstown.

"I hope that doesn't happen," he said. "I'm not sure if it will or not, but I'd hope voters would look at the totality of his numbers and see that he's been a great hitter on the road."

It would help his Hall of Fame chances if Helton would become a great hitter over the rest of this World Series. Again, a single World Series is a woefully small sample size, but this is reality: Playing in Colorado, a generally losing franchise in a media-unfriendly time zone, has kept Helton's profile at a minimum. While Hall of Fame voters who actively cover baseball know all about Helton, those voters will cast less than half of the more than 500 total ballots when he is up for election. And with Helton needing 75 percent of the vote to get into the Hall, he's going to have to win over a lot of voters who've not seen much of him.

They're seeing a lot of him now. And they can't be impressed. In his first postseason action of any kind, Helton has been brutal this October: .182 with no home runs and two RBI in nine games. It was in spite of Helton that the Rockies won the National League Division Series and the NLCS. For the Hall of Fame voter out there looking to be swayed one way or the other by Helton and his Coors Field background, this postseason isn't going to help.

And Helton isn't exactly doing wonders for the Rockies against Boston, either.

But he has three games to fix things. All sorts of things.