The Way To .400

Sporting News, The, Sept 4, 2000 by Michael Knisley

As Todd Helton enters the season's final month, TSN lays out his road to the magic mark

The long, narrow box next to Todd Helton's locker at Coors Field holds three bats, his latest shipment of Louisville Slugger lumber, each 34 1/2 inches long and weighing 32 ounces. The company's name and logo are on the side of the box, and on the end, the opened end, is a hand-written message in magic marker: "Helton, Go Deep."

But check the mailing label. The box, and the bats, weren't sent straight from the factory in Louisville. The return address is Buffalo, N.Y.

The message, as well as the bats, are from Jeff Manto, who began the season with Colorado but was designated for assignment in late April and is now playing Class AAA ball for Buffalo in the Indians' organization.

Right now, as August gives way to September, the most important person in Helton's mesmerizing bid to become the first player to hit .400 in 59 years--other than Helton himself, of course--may be Manto. If Helton achieves the baseball immortality that a .400 batting average will bring, he'll do it swinging a Jeff Manto-model bat.

"Have you ever heard of a guy in Triple-A sending bats to a guy in the big leagues?" Helton says. "This is probably the first time. The factory won't send me any of his bats, so I have to go through him. And I've only got three left."

The factory, of course, happily will send along a fair share of Todd Helton-model bats, but what good are those if Helton won't use them? No, a bat has to be right, has to be perfect, has to communicate with its hitter, and the Helton model, which is a half-inch shorter, apparently isn't talking these days.

The Manto model, meanwhile, is saying such sweet things. It isn't unlike Harry Potter, the child sorcerer in the enormously popular J.K. Rowling novels, finding the perfect magic wand. After all, Mr. Ollivander tells Harry in the first book, "The wand chooses the wizard."

Just like that, Manto's bat simply seemed to choose Helton. And when it did, it was as if red and gold sparks flew from the bat just as they do from the holly-and-phoenix-feather wand Harry finds in Diagon Alley. The first time Helton used the Manto-model bat, he went on a 13-for-20 rampage in late May. And recently, when he began to take it to the plate again, he blazed his way through a road trip (St. Louis, Montreal and New York) with 19 hits in 29 at-bats.

"I go through really bad periods when no bat feels good in my hands," Helton says. "And that means so much to me. I like a bat that feels good in my hands. When Jeff went back to Cleveland, his bats were left behind. So I picked one up in May, and, boy, did it feel good."

But, of course, Manto's leftover bats didn't last, and Helton went back to his own model. Not that he wasn't successful with it. As the week started, he was hitting .394--which means there haven't been any extended slumps this season-but when August began, the Helton model seemed to lose that lovin' feeling again.

"I struggled, and I struggled," he says of a stretch in which he went 2-for-11 against the Cubs at the end of July and then had "only" three hits in an early-August series against Pittsburgh. "Finally, I said, `I've got to get some more Jeff Manto bats.' I called him and said, `Send 'em!'"

So here they are, newly arrived and next to his locker and about to play a starring role in a September drama that may be every bit as compelling as the Mark McGwire-and-Sammy Sosa assault two years ago on baseball's home run record.

Can he do it? Can he become the first player to hit .400 for a full season since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941? Helton probably will need some Harry Potter-like magic to pull it off.

Unfortunately, we can't analyze magic. But we can take a hard look at the who, what and where of the September ahead that may determine the fate of Helton's quest.

Friday-Sunday, September 1-3

Milwaukee at Coors Field

This year: In six games, Helton is hitting .423 against the Brewers. Even Jeff D'Amico and his 1.94 ERA have felt the sting of his swing. Helton had a pair of hits, including a home run, against D'Amico on July 30. The only Brewer in the rotation to stop him this year is former teammate Jamey Wright. Helton is hitless in five official at-bats against Wright.

Hidden factor: Larry Walker still will be on Colorado's disabled list, which means the Brewers will have more opportunities to pitch around Helton. Walks, though, won't hurt his average, so Helton needs to be extra-patient at the plate.

Prognosis: This series won't put him off the track leading to .400, especially not when it's being played in Denver. Helton's batting average at home this year is .425, and 19 of the Rockies' final 29 games are at home.

Quote: "I'm going to walk him every chance I get. It's his own fault for being so good. He's not going to get pitched to. Put him right up there with (Mike) Piazza and Barry Bonds and those guys. Just go up there and take your walks. I tell you what: I ain't pitching to him." --Braves RHP Greg Maddux