Every pitch counts for Helton, Rockies

LOS ANGELES — After 10 years of wondering what a September that matters would feel like, Rockies first baseman Todd Helton finally is finding out.

It is, he said, as good as he ever imagined, and then some.

And for his teammates, what makes the Colorado Rockies sudden rise into the battle for the National League wild card so special is what a postseason appearance would mean to Helton, the face of the franchise.

“When you have a player who has meant as much to a franchise as Todd has to the Rockies, and you realize he has never had a chance to be in a playoff, it makes what we are going through mean that much more to me,” left fielder Matt Holliday said. “Most of us have been around three, four years, and we think about the struggles we’ve been through. Todd’s been playing 10 years, waiting for this.”

Helton has meant a lot to the Rockies, and it extends past his on-field accomplishments, which include a batting title in 2000, five All-Star selections and three Gold Gloves.

“Todd is the guy who used to call me in the minor leagues, back when I was in the lower levels, when most people thought I was a crappy player, and he’d tell me how good I was going to be,” Holliday said. “He’s the guy who would talk about some day we’d be hitting third, fourth in the lineup. He would tell me when that happens we’d have a chance to win.”

Looks like Helton might have been correct when he was offering encouragement to that teenage prospect who never hit more than 16 home runs or drove in more than 72 runs in a minor league season.

But here’s Holliday, batting third for the Rockies, now battling to lead the league in average and RBI, with Helton batting fourth.

And here are the Rockies, heading into the final six games of the regular season having established a franchise record with 84 wins and very much alive in the wild- card battle.

The Rockies open a three-game series against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night in third place in the wild-card race, one game behind San Diego and one-half game behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Rockies face a challenge in that they don’t have any games remaining against the Padres or Phillies, but they haven’t flinched.

They are 17-7 since Aug. 29, in which time they have moved ahead of the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves in the wild-card race and slashed four games off the Padres’ lead.

Helton has been a key part of the success, hitting .407 in the 24 games and increasing his season average from .298 to .317.

“It’s pretty cool,” Helton said. “Every pitch counts. You focus is that much higher ... I don’t know how to explain it. You always feel you are going out and playing your hardest, trying to do something special, but it does feel special to be able to respond in this situation.”

Septembers haven’t been exciting for Helton in his career. Helton isn’t close to Ernie Banks’ all-time record for games played without a postseason appearance (2,528 games), but he is third among active players in games played without having reached the postseason.

Helton has played in 1,571 games, trailing one-time teammate Jeff Cirillo of Arizona, who has appeared in 1,613 regular-season games, and Damian Easley of the Mets, who has appeared in 1,593 games.

With Arizona and the Mets leading their divisions, Cirillo and Easley virtually are assured of ending their droughts.

The Rockies aren’t guaranteed a postseason berth, but they are giving Helton reason to believe his name might be removed from that list. And that would put an added bonus on a postseason trip for Helton’s teammates.

“We are all enjoying this, but it is more special because of Todd,” right fielder Brad Hawpe said. “A few years ago when the organization decided to go with (the young players from the farm system), he stood by us and endorsed the plan, saying he felt we had a good future. Every one of us appreciated that.”

The Rockies came close to trading Helton in the offseason. He agreed to waive his no-trade clause if a deal could be worked out with Boston. When the talks fell through, Helton said he would not consider any future trades. He said he wanted to finish his career where it began, with the Rockies. His contract runs through 2011.

“I want to be in a postseason, and most of all, I want to be part of a postseason with the Rockies,” Helton said at the time.

Not since 1995, when the Rockies won the NL wild card, has the team been this close to a postseason opportunity.

That was the year the Rockies signed Helton as their No. 1 draft choice. He was to make his major league debut in August 1997.

In his nine full seasons before this one, he had been on a team with a winning record only once, in 2000, when the Rockies were 82-80.

Now comes 2007.

“We’ve been through some tough times here, but these guys are special players,” Helton said. “I’ve been able to watch them develop. That makes all this mean that much more.”