Knoxville Central baseball coach Bud Bales knew Todd Helton was more than 'a good guy'
Bud Bales loved going to “the hole.”
That is what the former Knoxville Central baseball coach nicknamed a specific workout area his players used. Bales fondly remembers seeing Todd Helton there every day in the offseason.
After Helton completed his baseball regimen, he beelined to the school’s field house to train for football as he was the starting quarterback all four years.
“Todd he was different, you know,” the 85-year-old Bales told Knox News. “He was a hard worker, very determined, confident type of kid.”
That kid carved out an illustrious MLB career with the Colorado Rockies deserving of admission into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Helton was elected Tuesday and will be inducted on July 21 in Cooperstown, New York.
“It's well deserved, of course, I figured he'd be in there long before,” the retired 26-year Central coach told Knox News. “He had worked hard and really put in the time and effort to accomplish what he's done in baseball.”
Favorite moments
Central baseball achieved perfection in 1990.
The Bobcats went 31-0 and won their first state championship since 1973. The impeccable season had a star-studded group with players including another future major league player, Bubba Trammell, and pitcher Chris Freeman, who would later play for the Class AA Knoxville Smokies.
Bales said the season wouldn’t have ended in a championship had it not been for Helton’s pivotal plate appearance in the first game of the state tournament.
With runners on first and third, the then-sophomore and left-handed pitcher smacked a line drive to left field that drove in a run to seal Central’s victory and the next two wins for a title.
Bales admired Helton’s fearlessness in big moments, calling him a “battler.”
His eventual stardom wasn’t a shocker. Helton was one of a few freshmen who contributed for Bales. By the time he was a senior, Helton was the undisputed leader of the team.
Bales said that when he wasn’t walked intentionally by opponents, he dominated on the plate. Helton had a .655 batting average and 12 home runs and was named the regional player of the year. In football, he was Class 3A Mr. Football in 1991 and was at one point the starting quarterback for the Tennessee in 1994, ahead of Peyton Manning.
Hall of Fame traits
On rare occasions, Helton played below his expectations like most high school athletes. Those kinds of outings didn’t linger.
“He didn't let a lot bother, he could bounce back pretty easily," Bales said. "(He was) confident in what he could do and what he should do."
ADAMS: Finally, Todd Helton is where he belongs — in the Baseball Hall of Fame | Adams
Along with achieving greatness in athletics, Helton prospered in the classroom, Bales said. Many of his peers gravitated to him.
“He was a popular kid, everybody liked Todd in the school,” Bales said. “He was a good person, good athlete, good student. He was just a good guy.”
Helton met with his old coach and a few other friends for lunch at Litton's Market and Restaurant in Knoxville a few weeks ago. Before their time concluded, Helton told Bales that he had a gift from his daughters.
“He went out to his car and he (gave) me a very nice plaque with a prayer on it,” Bales said. "The prayer was very touching, very sweet of them. Of course, I'm sure Todd and (his wife) Christy had something to with that too.”
It’s only fitting that less than a month later, Helton learned he'll be gifted a plaque and immortalized in baseball history forever.
Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email toyloy.brown@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly Twitter, @TJ3rd_.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Central baseball coach Bud Bales was always a fan of Todd Helton
