‘Hall Of Fame Debate’ – Todd Helton VS Lance Berkman
Before we get into the number-crunching, let me say that the conversation about either one of these players and their potential induction into Cooperstown as a Baseball Hall of Famer is a fun one. Both players were stars. And while never may have been tagged as ‘the best’ over the course of a season or multiple seasons, they both performed at superstar levels for many, many years.
Would I vote either of them into the Hall of Fame? That is a great question, and one worth some time to think about.
But, we can put them in a steel-cage and let their numbers battle to help determine which one had a better career.
So, that is what we will do.
And here are the numbers:
| Helton | Berkman | |
| Seasons | 17 | 15 |
| Games | 2,247 | 1,879 |
| Hits | 2,519 | 1,905 |
| 200 Hit Seasons | 2 | 0 |
| 150-199 Hit Seasons | 9 | 7 |
| Batting Average | 0.316 | 0.293 |
| .300+ Seasons | 12 | 5 |
| Batting Titles | 1 | 0 |
| On-Base % | 0.414 | 0.406 |
| Walks Drawn | 1335 | 1201 |
| Strikeouts | 1175 | 1300 |
| Doubles | 592 | 422 |
| Triples | 37 | 30 |
| Home Runs | 369 | 366 |
| 30-39 HR Seasons | 4 | 4 |
| 40+ HR Seasons | 2 | 2 |
| Stolen Bases | 37 | 86 |
| Runs Scored | 1,401 | 1,146 |
| 100-Run Seasons | 6 | 5 |
| RBI | 1,406 | 1,234 |
| 100-RBI Seasons | 5 | 6 |
| All-Star | 5 | 6 |
| Gold Glove | 3 | 0 |
| Silver Slugger | 3 | 0 |
| ROY | 0 | 0 |
| MVP | 0 | 0 |
| Postseasons | 2 | 5 |
| WS Titles | 0 | 1 |
And now, time to break it down and cast a vote.
Ultimately for me, the players can be judged on a few base areas of the game: hitting, run production, defense, and star status.
While Lance Berkman was a supreme hitter, Todd Helton’s overall numbers are much better and more impressive. His number of seasons above .300 is exceptional – 12 out of 17.
Power numbers are solid for both, and each offered similar home run, RBI, and run production.
Todd Helton won three Gold Glove Awards for defensive excellence at First base while Berkman was never recognized as an elite defender.
Lastly, Todd Helton is without a doubt the greatest Colorado Rockies player of all-time (to this point) and he has been the face of the franchise for 20+ years. Lance Berkman is an Astros legend, and deserves his spot as one of the team’s best offensive players, but he has company there with Biggio, Bagwell, etc.
For me this battle is strong, but one man comes out on top every time (except stolen bases) and that player is Todd Helton.
He gets my vote!!
And now, it is your turn to vote – Todd Helton VS Lance Berkman
30-Year Old Cardboard 
No and no. Not only do both players remind of someone like Dave Kingman or Bill Madlock, but there are SO many much more deserving candidates then either one of these two. Having said that, both will forever remain in my “star” collection!
Ron- I am with you. But, some of the stuff that Helton did is worthy of consideration.
I don’t think either of them will get elected to the HOF. They were good players, but there are more deserving players than Berkman and Helton that have not been elected into the HOF.
Matt- Agreed. But it makes for fun dialogue.
I tend to agree that neither will make it. Both played in high offense stadiums, so we actually need to discount both of their stats for park effects. If either were to go in, it would be Helton, though.
Tony- We are on the same page in both regards: neither did enough to earn enshrinement, and Helton had the more impressive numbers.
todd helton deserves be in the hall of fame