This year, there are two Colorado Rockies on the ballot: the second year for Todd Helton and the final for Larry Walker. One of these players has a good shot of making the HOF this year, the other won’t. One has their number hanging on the right field facade at Coors Field but the other doesn’t. This leads to the obvious question.
Why hasn’t the Rockies retired Larry Walker’s #33?
Currently, there have been two numbers retired by the Rockies: Jackie Robinson’s #42 (retired throughout the Majors in 1997) and Helton’s #17.
Obviously, being the greatest Rockies’ player of all-time after playing all 17 years of his career with the Rockies and leading the franchise in career games, hits, home runs, runs scored, and RBI, among countless other statistical categories, Helton deserves this great honor.