Vol baseball legend Todd Helton to join staff
After three years at Tennessee and 17 with the Colorado Rockies, one of the greatest Vol baseball players of all time is returning to Rocky Top to assist the team’s coaching staff.
Colorado Rockies #17 Todd Helton warms up with a bat before Game 1 of the 2007 World Series against the Boston Red Sox on Oct. 24, 2007. Photo obtained via creativecommons.org, no changes made.
Tennessee baseball announced Friday that former Vol and MLB star Todd Helton will be joining the staff for the upcoming season. Helton’s official role with the team will be as a volunteer director of player development.
“It’s an honor to have one of Tennessee’s best players coming back to be with our program,” Tennessee baseball head coach Dave Serrano said through a media release. “Our players and coaching staff will benefit from having Todd Helton’s presence around the ball field.”
His responsibilities will include assisting with some aspects of recruiting and helping current players made decisions regarding their careers in professional baseball.
Helton spent three years playing both football and baseball with the Volunteers. He spent the majority of his football career as a backup quarterback, but racked up awards and honors on the baseball field. Most notably, he won the Dick Howser Trophy as the nation’s best collegiate baseball player after his junior season. He still owns school records for home runs, RBI and putouts.
After three years with the Vols, Helton was drafted as the eighth overall pick of the 1995 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. He spent all 17 years of his professional career with Colorado, becoming a five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger and three-time Golden Glove winner. He also set numerous franchise records, many of which still stand today. Helton retired from the MLB in 2013, and his No. 17 was retired by Colorado in 2014.
Edited by Nathan Odom
Featured image by Andrew Malone
Quinn is an assistant sports editor for TNJN and a sophomore majoring in Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennesse. When he's not writing, he's probably doing something else. You can follow him on Twitter (@QuinnNotCook) or e-mail him at qpilkey@vols.utk.edu.
