Helton to have surgery for ruptured disk in back

SAN FRANCISCO - Colorado first baseman Todd Helton feels the Rockies' pain - literally and figuratively.

Helton, a focal point of the Rockies' drive to the first National League pennant in franchise history a year ago and sidelined July 3 by lower back problems, decided Wednesday to undergo arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to relieve pressure a ruptured disk has placed on a nerve, creating numbness in his left leg.

The former University of Tennessee and Central High School star traveled with the Rockies to San Francisco, where they played the Giants on Wednesday night, but he flew to Los Angeles with trainer Keith Dugger on Wednesday morning and was examined by Dr. Robert Watkins, who will perform the surgery in Marina del Rey, Calif.

Dugger said the surgery is arthroscopic, involving an incision only 2 inches long, and that after two weeks, Helton will begin a rehabilitation program. He is expected to be ready for the start of spring training.

Helton welcomes the chance to alleviate the pain that began bothering him three years ago and caused the problems in his left leg, which led to him going on the disabled list in July.

"Mentally," Helton said, "it has been a train wreck."

The Rockies took a conservative approach in treating Helton, trying to avoid surgery, but three times his comeback he was thwarted by a flare-up when he started swinging a bat, the most recent time a week ago.

"Dr. Watkins said if he was talking about someone in the general public, he would continue the rehab work and there might be a recurrence (of the nerve problem) once in a while," Dugger said. "With Todd and the athletic demands, a more aggressive approach was needed."

Helton, 35, said he can deal with pain, but the numbness in his leg was too big an issue to ignore.

"If I can get the nerve part fixed, I can deal with everything else," he said. "It was the pain down the leg that got to me."

This has been a troubling time for Helton, who says the expectations others have for him pale compared to what he expects from himself. The highest-paid player in franchise history wants to earn the $52.3 million in guaranteed salary he has coming the next three seasons.

"Now that I know what can happen, I can focus on all the little things needed to make sure we keep it under control," he said.

Dugger said "a key for us will be to make sure physical fatigue does not set in. There are daily experiences he will have to do at least for the rest of his career."

The big thing for Helton is getting the Rockies back on track. After nine years of failure, last season was the most enjoyable of his sports career.

The Rockies steadily improved during the season, then won 14 of their final 15 regular-season games, including an NL wild-card tiebreaker against San Diego, to get to the postseason.

Then came sweeps of Philadelphia in three games in an NL Division Series and Arizona in four games in the NL Championship Series before the Rockies were swept by Boston in the World Series.

This season has been worse than Helton could have imagined. The Rockies stumbled, then found themselves arriving in San Francisco looking to save face. Helton never got into an offensive groove, and he blames himself for the sluggish Rockies offense.

His season will end with a .264 average, seven home runs and 29 RBIs in 83 games, including two September pinch-hit appearances in which he struck out.

Those are not Helton-like numbers.

In his prime, Helton had six consecutive seasons of 30-plus home runs and seven consecutive seasons of 95-plus RBIs. He never hit below .300 in his first 10 full seasons and he entered this year with a .332 career average, 303 home runs and 1,087 RBIs.

"It has been frustrating to know I haven't been able to help," Helton said. "The team is not winning, so I want to be out there helping it do better. I haven't done my part."