HARTFORD, Conn. — It’s not often that brass from the big league club, the Colorado Rockies, comes to Hartford to see the Yard Goats but this week that’s exactly the case.
Former major league first baseman Todd Helton, who spent his entire career in Colorado, is making a swing through the Rockies minor league teams to work with and evaluate the rosters.
“It’s fun, I mean it’s rewarding,” said Helton who is working as a special assistant to the Colorado general manager. “We still got a lot of work to do but anyway we can help the organization is what we are here to do.”
Like Helton, former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle is also in town to work with the players, checking out the culture of the organization with all eyes on getting the minor league system to hit on all cylinders.
“I have a lense and Todd has a lense,” said Hurdle, who took questions from the upper deck of Dunkin Donuts Park. “Todd’s street cred with the players is insurmountable, I mean it’s undefeated when you can get a player with Todd’s pedigree and resume to come in and spend time with these guys.”
Hurdle, who was the 2013 National League manager of the year with the Pittsburgh Pirates, won 1,269 games during his career as a manager.
Helton, a future Hall of Famer, played 17 years in Colorado where he was a lifetime .316 hitter with 369 home runs.
Both Helton and Hurdle will be in Hartford all week working with the young Yard Goats players.
Sean Pragano is a sports reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached a spragano@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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