Todd Helton's Playoff Blog

Proud to be a Colorado Rockie

2007-10-29T02:56:52Z

We played the best we could in the World Series, but there's no way around the fact that the Red Sox played great, so we lost.

When Jonathan Papelbon struck out Seth Smith to end the game, then threw his glove in the air to begin the celebration, I stayed around to watch it for a second. It's tough to watch. It's tough to be on the other side of the fence. We made a lot of teams feel like we feel right now. But you need to be a gracious winner and a gracious loser.

Tonight, I am proud to be one of the Colorado Rockies. I'm proud to be a big league baseball player, just to be here. I wanted to win the World Series. But this was a good experience.

The fans have been great. They've really come out and supported us. They were proud of the great moments of this season, just like we were.

People ask me if I can think about next season, about going to Tucson, Ariz., for Spring Training and preparing for 2008. But that's the last thing I want to think about right now.

I just want to go home and be a dad right now.

Backs against the wall

2007-10-28T04:10:03Z

We played a lot better this time, but the Red Sox were better and now we're down, 3-0. Our backs are against the wall.

We've faced this before. The last two weeks of the regular season were like a loser-go-home wrestling match. Of course, that wasn't during the World Series.

All we can do is play as hard as we can. The Red Sox have taken it to us. We've got to do something to stop their momentum. But it looked like we put together a string of better at-bats against their pitchers today, or at least late in the game. That's real important. If we can put together several consecutive good at-bats, we'll get some runs and get our offense going.

We don't make excuses, but we did have that eight-day layoff. Maybe the offense we showed gets us back on track.

I'm proud of how we got back into that game. In a lot of cases, we go ahead and win. But the mark of a good team is adding on, and they did just that. We've got our work cut out, but we've done it before.

Confident going into Game 3

2007-10-27T00:38:57Z

We know we'll have to get it going to come back from two games down and win the World Series, but this team is resilient and has a lot of confidence.

It was a long flight. We had to stop and get gas on the way and landed at 6-ish. I think everybody was a little more tired than usual. But other than that, it was pretty much the same. The same guys played cards. The same guys watched movies. The same guys played video games.

I really appreciate the home-field advantage that we have at Coors Field. There's no doubt we're going to feel a lot more comfortable here. It's always been that way with the Rockies, that no matter what happens on the road, we can turn things around in a hurry. Down 2-0, history will tell you that it's a tough place to come back from, but we've got no choice. We've got to go out and play, and win a baseball game tomorrow.

I haven't really had a chance to sample the spirit of Denver. I just decided to get some sleep, then come to the ballpark and work out. I understand people are excited. Everyone is wearing Rockies gear, and I know the fans here are behind us. Hopefully, I'll see some of the excitement tomorrow. I know there will be a lot of it for Game 3, the first-ever World Series game at Coors Field.

Down 2-0, but we're heading to Coors

2007-10-27T00:26:09Z

It's been quite a while since we've lost two in a row, but here we are, down 2-0 in the World Series.

But I'm happy to be heading home to Coors Field.

Fenway Park has lots of little quirks, and the Red Sox have played really well here. They've pitched us tough. We pitched a lot better tonight than last night. Ubaldo Jimenez did a good job, and so did our bullpen. We just couldn't come up with timely hits. Our pitching has been carrying us the whole postseason, but before the World Series we got a lot of timely hits.

Curt Schilling had lot to do with that tonight. He used to throw a 97 mph fastball right by you whenever he got in trouble. He doesn't have that pitch anymore, but he's really smart. He can get you looking for something hard, then throw his changeup when you least expect it. He got us tonight, and they've got a really good bullpen.

But we're going home.

We have a bigger home-field advantage. We've got a big park, we play well there, and they're the team that's going to have to adjust. And I can't wait to get out on the field on Saturday night. I know our fans have waited a long time for this -- 15 years. It's hard to believe it's been that long. That's even longer than I've been playing. I just hope they're loud. I hope they're crazy.

We need to swing the bats better and play better overall, and our fans are going to help us.

Check out Fenway, talk to Peyton

2007-10-23T18:56:14Z

Today was workout day at Fenway Park, before the World Series starts tomorrow night.

It's a great thrill to have my dad on the field with me today. With the history of this place, he said he always wanted to come here and see a World Series game, it's special. I'm excited for him. My mom and my dad are both going to be here.

It's going to be exciting. I think my dad will be more nervous than I am. I remember how he taught me to hit the other way. I'd hit in the garage, and he had a Fiberglas boat on the right side of the garage. If I pulled it, I'd hit the boat and then I got a whippin'. That'll make you stay inside the ball pretty good.

I talked to Peyton Manning last night, my good friend and old football teammate from Tennessee. He said, 'The best advice I can give you is to keep your same routine.' It worked for him in the Super Bowl last year, so that's good advice.

I'm just going to go take the family to dinner, go home, get a good night's sleep, then get up and get ready to play tomorrow. I'll hopefully sleep in a little bit tomorrow, so the day will be a little bit shorter. The game doesn't start until after 8 o'clock, and it can't get here soon enough.

Destination: Fenway

2007-10-22T16:46:27Z

The World Series.

At Fenway Park.

Are you kidding me?

Of course, we've played there a few times in the past, so I've done the whole tour of the historic park. I've been inside the Green Monster, where so many players have been and signed their names on the wall. That was the first time, years back. Larry Walker and I went out there and did it.

It's a wonderful ballpark, wonderful atmosphere. It'll be unbelievable. I'll be excited about that.

A lot of players might take along a video camera and record the whole experience. That's wonderful. But I won't do that. This mind of mine is a steel trap, especially with something like this. I'll never forget any of this.

Now, to the game on the field.

Fenway Park is a unique place. You hear a lot of things about the infield being rough, but I didn't notice anything like that between home plate and first base. But I'll have to take a look-see when we get there.

As a hitter, especially a left-handed hitter, the ballpark plays a lot bigger than you think. It does have the short porch around Pesky's Pole down the right-field line, but then it gets really big, really quick.

To all the fans of the Rockies, thanks for all your support. It really makes a difference to us.

See you Saturday!

Reason to celebrate

2007-10-21T16:57:01Z

Toward the end of the regular season, there were a lot of stories about me showing more emotion than in the past. But why am I supposed to get all happy and excited when we win a game, but were still going to go home at the end of the season? To me, it doesn't make any sense. You're not going to the playoffs. To me, it takes a little more than that to get excited.

My emotion lately is not planned. After I hit that game-winning home run against the Dodgers on Sept. 18, Luis Gonzalez got on first the day after. He said, 'That's why I love this game. You never know what it's going to make you do.' I couldn't say it any better.

I'm told that my teammates appreciate what I've contributed, and I hope so. I try not to be overbearing. I try to play as hard as I can, do my job. If it wasn't for my teammates, I wouldn't be here.

Eye on the ALCS

2007-10-19T23:28:14Z

As I watch the Indians-Red Sox series, I can't just sit back and watch it as a fan. I watch it as a player who is about to play that team. It's hard not to, especially with me not seeing their pitchers as much as we've seen the Phillies or the Diamondbacks.

So there's a lot to learn. I'm pretty much just watching it as a player who's going to have to go out and compete against those guys. I look at what the bullpen throws, watching which guys bunt. It's just like I'm watching it in the locker room before the game.

But I'm not taping it and going back over it. I'm not going that far into it. When I overanalyze anything, there's nothing good that can come out of it. I've got time for that. Plus that's why you have scouts and scouting reports, even though I'll form my own opinion rather than take somebody else's. But in the final analysis, I'll take it for what it's worth.

Today's workout was not dedicated to another team. Our concern is ourselves, doing what we've been doing the way we've done things all year.

Savoring success, looking ahead

2007-10-17T20:36:11Z

It’s back to business today, with a workout at Coors Field.

After we clinched the National League Championship Series in Sunday night, we stayed up most of the night. So yesterday was a very slow day, to say the least. I knew we had some down time. We were off. So we sort of relaxed, enjoyed it, had a nice dinner. We didn’t to too much. So it’s nice to crank it back up today, get some blood flowing and start focusing on playing the World Series.

Has it sunk in? I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, to be honest with you. I’ve said it to myself a lot. National League Champions. It’s not easy to do. I think it’s so crazy, so surreal, because three weeks ago we weren’t in this frame of mind. Yet, we weren’t making offseason plans.

But I’ve always said I’m going to go out and play the 162-game regular season as hard as I can and just see what happens. I think that’s what we did as a team. We just went out and played hard. I think that’s the problem with some teams. They start talking, ‘I’m gonna do this after the season.’ ‘I’m gonna do that after the season.’ We didn’t have too much of that. I don’t think anybody wanted to go home. We wanted to keep playing, and I think that’s part of the reason we were able to pull off whatever you call what we did.

After the Division Series against the Phillies and the other night when we made it to the World Series, I brought my daughter into the clubhouse during the celebration. Tierney is five years old now. And, now she thinks that every time we win, we drink beer and pour it on our heads.

I hope she gets to see it one more time.

This is incredible

2007-10-16T04:33:20Z

We’re going to the World Series!

At the end of the game, I was walking around the field with my daughter Tierney on my shoulders. I don’t know if you can describe it. It’s a dream come true. It’s tough to put into words.

Seeing the fans, seeing the look in my teammates’ eyes, knowing that we actually set goals that we were able to accomplish -- that’s the unthinkable, to come back from where we were at, most people would just pack it up and make plans for the offseason. We kept battling. Now we’re celebrating.

Every year, we make the goal to win the World Series, not to make the World Series. I mean, you want to believe it, but you know you’re up against some tough opponents. That’s everybody’s goal when the season starts. But to actually accomplish it, it’s crazy good.

I’m not an emotional guy. This is emotional.

I mean, just to see that “CR” on top of the “League Champs” when I got the hat and looked at it. … I’d never even seen the National League championship trophy before. I didn’t know. When I saw that and heard "National League Champs, going to the World Series," it just sounds so good going off the tongue, it’s ridiculous.

What great fans

2007-10-15T03:47:20Z

I'll tell you, this is something special, being one step away from the World Series, but we still have to get it done. The Diamondbacks are not going to quit.

Tonight was really cold, but it was a lot colder for the great fans that watched us than it was for us. It's good to be out on the field, moving around. The only thing was I had to change my shirt a few times because you'd sweat and get soaking wet, then the cold would get to you.

I'm hearing a lot about how our run ranks in history. They say the 1970 Baltimore Orioles and the 1976 Cincinnati Reds are the only teams to win their first six games in the postseason. But I'm not putting us in that category at all.

I'm not the type that will go home and shut myself off, or avoid the subject. I'm not going to not watch TV. That's what I do, go home, sit on the couch and watch TV. And I'll watch sports. If you hear it, you hear it. Once you get in here, you're just focused on going out and playing that day.

I want to talk about the more than 50,000 fans that helped us. I hope they're loud and crazy and I hope they enjoy themselves, because we're going to be playing hard and enjoying ourselves.

There's going to be a lot of anticipation in the stadium. But when you get into that whole atmosphere, you really have to calm down.

Like tonight. Look at my first at-bat, when Livan Hernandez struck me out. That was a terrible at-bat. I just had to say, "Hey, relax. Refocus. Do everything you've been doing your whole life. Quit thinking." Then in the fourth, I got a hard-hit single off the right-field wall. I hit it well, but I'm old and slow.

But I hope that gets me going. Hopefully, I found something.

A big win

2007-10-13T05:02:23Z

That was a big, exciting win for us. We put a lot of energy into that one and came out on top.

We had a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning, but the Diamondbacks fought back and tied it against our closer, Manny Corpas. There was no sinking feeling on our part. We just knew we had more work to do. You want to win the game right there, but Corpas has done a great job for us. He just let one pitch get away, and it hit Chris Young. Then a broken-bat hit by Stephen Drew, and those guys for the Diamondbacks, they did their job, too. Overall, we just had to get out of that inning, get back in the dugout and regroup.

Then we had some really good at-bats against Jose Valverde in the 11th -- some great at-bats -- to get a big win. It shows a lot, not only the hitters, but Corpas keeping his head right there and still making big pitches to get us out of that.

There hasn't been a whole lot of hitting, but it is different. The playoffs are different. From what I've watched on TV and what I've experienced, every run is big.

Remember my at-bat against Valverde in the 10th? I took a third strike and thought at first it was away. But after I looked at it on tape, it was too close for me to take. You're going to get the guy's best stuff, his best pitch every time.

Thoughts on Chase Field

2007-10-12T23:27:20Z

As I get ready for Game 2 at Chase Field, I think about all the games I’ve played in this ballpark. It’s a pretty good hitters' park.

They say there’s a difference whether the roof is open or closed. I don’t see it that much. The thing I like most about it is you can always see the ball. You pretty much know what you’re hitting. Some people say it looks like it could be hard to see, but it’s not. It’s a great, dark background, a good place to see the baseball. That’s all you can ask for. If you see it, you have a chance.

The other thing is you don’t have a wind. If you have a wind blowing in your face, it’s tough. It’s like if you’re playing golf and there’s a stiff breeze, it makes it tougher mentally.

People saw what happened with the fans in the seventh inning last night. They didn’t like a call at second base, and some people threw things out onto the field. Let me tell you something: I never thought that would happen here. But you can’t paint everybody because of the actions of a few. They’ve got really good fans here. Hey, Cubs fans did it twice when we were there, and they’ve got the best fans in the world. The Diamondbacks have every reason to be proud of their fans.

Posted courtesy of MLB.com during the game.

Back in the saddle

2007-10-12T04:19:57Z

We’ve won Game 1, but there’s still a ways to go. We can’t get ahead of ourselves. The hardest thing about tonight was just the wait. We had four days off, and it makes you anxious. You just want to get out there. You want to go.

It’s almost like you’re too rested. It was about the eighth or ninth inning, when I felt my body was hurting just as much as usual. Then I was ready to go.

Not a lot of teams have a lot of success against the Diamondbacks’ Brandon Webb. I think we just battle. If you notice, we didn’t go out tonight and just crush the ball all over the field. We just got some timely hits and we were able to string some good at-bats together.

That’s the thing about playoff baseball. You watch them every year. Every run is big in the playoffs.

The next generation of fans

2007-10-11T21:51:41Z

Thinking of the playoffs makes me think back to when I was a kid. I think the first World Series I could remember was in 1981. I would come back from football practice and go to a friend’s house to watch on his TV. It was the Dodgers and Yankees. I can remember watching it on a small, black-and-white TV. We didn’t get the station at my house, so I had to go over to my friend’s house to watch it.

You know, I don’t remember any players or anything like that. It was just the teams, the Dodgers and the Yankees. It was exciting. I had already decided that I wanted to grow up to be a baseball player, so it wasn’t because of that. My dad was a baseball player in the Twins organization, but he came home when my older brother, Rodney, was born.

Of course, the playoff games start pretty late and kids might not be able to stay up and watch them. As a player, you think back to when you were a kid and you think about the kids and hope they can enjoy the game the way you did. Believe it or not, we’re kind of worried about the actual game, but you’re always conscious of the kids. You want to make a good impression so they’ll grow up loving the game, too.

Posted courtesy of MLB.com during the game.