DH Steroid Witchhunt: Todd Helton
This is not as easy as I make this call look, but I believe that Todd Helton was a steroid user that even without steroids was a great, pure hitter all along. I remember a segment in Jose Canseco's book, Juiced, in which he talked about when a decent player took steroids, he would become a great player. When a star player or great player took steroids, he became all-world, unhuman superstar. Two guys came to mind immediately when I read that: Sammy Sosa, and Todd Helton.
Take a look at Helton's numbers from 2000 and 2001. I will guess that when he broke into the league in 1997 and in his second year 1998, he was not a steroid user. However when you look at 1999, when I remember steroids starting to become a conversation and an issue (Ken Caminiti-league MVP of 1998 was on them), Helton's slugging percentage and power numbers begin to jump.
Then you begin to see the results of what steroids, Coors Field, and being a great pure hitter did for Helton. Unhuman like numbers in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, when the big story broke about the juice, Helton got off them midway through the season, causing his power numbers to suffer and swoon for good. The average was still there but the pop and power slowly decreased, with his slugging dropping 220 points from his peak last season in only 15 fewer games played then his 'peak' years.
While I can see some's arguments being that Helton has always played in a ballpark conducive to the long balls, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't have kept hitting homeruns. He's still been in Coors field, but the only difference has been he doesn't get those line drives in the gap and down the lines to carry out as often. The decrease in muscle isn't giving him those extra 20 feet on those line shots. What a surprise that the great line drive hitter had 40 something doubles in the past 4 seasons, right within his career average. This shows that he's still been hitting reltively the same. Gap to gap line drive hitter, but with less power recently.
I was talking about it with editor George tonight, and he told me to do a witchhunt on Mr. Helton. Obviously, it's only opinion and belief. That is something to keep in mind with this. We're simply having fun with this and trying to predict something that will never be anything more than here-say or speculation. Do we know that Helton used steroids? Hell no. Do we believe that he did?
Steroid User Rating/Probability: 89% Roider
Status: Guilty as sin
6 comments:
There is no question he used steroids
too obvious...
That's such crap...Helton's power numbers came during the years when most guys hit home runs, when they are young! Don't forget about the inception of the humidor in 2002 at Coors Field either, this no doubt limits the amount of homers hit there. Helton is a career .328 hitter who, if you watch day in and day out, is an amazing hitter. If you want to start a witch hunt for steroid users, look for a guy who hits the majority of his home runs after 35. It's a shame that your attempting to devalue the career of one of the great hitters and class athletes of our era with absolutely no evidence!
There are some players whose stats can't really be explained without steroid use. But all the things that supposedly show Helton used PEDs can be very easily explained as a clean player: he went from 49 HR in 2001 to 30 in 2002, the year the humidor was introduced, which has turned Coors Field from a stat-magnifying freakzone into a standard major-leauge hitter's park.
His further power drop-off after 2004 (at age 31) from a 30 HR guy to a 15-25 guy is not at all uncommon among clean players as they get into their 30s. Finally, his chronic back problem started around 2002, which in addition to hurting his swing, may (just speculating here) have caused him to start focusing his training more on flexibility and less on building muscle, costing him even more power.
One might claim that steroids caused his back problem, but that's a stretch... steroids usually cause ligament issues, guys pulling muscle off bone a-la Nomar, not disc problems.
The fact is that Helton, now injury-free, is swinging the bat not much differently than he did in 1999-2003 (you mentioned his doubles production has never really faltered), and we should EXPECT a clean guy at age 35 to hit fewer homers than he did at age 27. You have a young line-drive hitter hitting homers in a sick offensive park, and ten years later you have an older line-drive hitter who's had some injuries to overcome, hitting fewer homers in a park that's been drastically adjusted back to near-normal offensive attributes, and all you can see to explain that is steroids? Sorry, there are way too many other factors surrounding Helton's career to put him at anything over about 50% probability.
I think the introduction of the humidor in 2002 and the back degeneration are what to look at. His biggest struggles numers wise were during those times, but throughout his career, he has been arguably the best pure hitter in the league. Who else consistently hits doubles like he can. That's not just slapping the ball into the outfield. From day one, he has hit the ball hard, and palyed the game right. Look at the past weeks, a 15 game hitting streak, 5 hits tonight! The guy should be in the hall. His ability to hit and field are second to none, and without the juice.
My question is...WHO CARES! Helton was a great player without them and a BEAST when he was on them. You see......chicks dig the long ball. Don't beleve me? People loved it when McGwire had the home run record. Right now Bonds has it! In order to beat cheaters, you have to become a cheater. In order for any baseball player to beat his home run record, they have to juice. It may be wrong, but its not cheating if everyone does it!
MLB has know this for years!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ltD21rYWVw
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