Colorado Rockies Countdown: Top Five First Basemen

25 years of Major League baseball in the Rocky Mountains is nearly upon us. In celebration, Rox Pile is taking a journey through Colorado Rockies history and taking a look at the best players at every position. Our next stop? First base.

In our last countdown, we featured the Rockies’ greatest backstops, which left something to be desired to say in the least. Evaluating the club’s first basemen made for a much more aesthetically pleasing countdown. Even a fair weather fan can probably guess who tops our list. Heck, he or she might even be able to nail the top two spots, but the other three spots are a crapshoot.

To compile our rankings, we used Fangraphs‘ list for career Wins Above Replacement (fWAR), which serves as a great guideline for positional players. The fWAR statistic allows one to evaluate a player’s contribution over time with a specific team. Therefore, fWAR allows us to completely negate what a player has done in their career outside of the Centennial State.

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Also as a general rule, this list consists of players that have at least 500 plate appearances with the club. The 500 PA rule approximates to about 1.5 years of service time and gives a large enough sample size for accurate evaluation. As an added stipulation, the players on our list needed to have played a majority of their innings in the field at the position being evaluated.

The “majority rule” keeps guys like Jerald Clark (1993, fWAR 1.3), and John Vander Wal (1994-1998, fWAR 1.8) off of our list. Although both played first base, Clark and Vander Wal played a majority of their innings in the outfield and at first, so it wouldn’t be fair to call them simply first basemen.

Without further ado, here is Rox Pile’s list of the top five first basemen to ever sport purple pinstripes. Let us know in the comments section what you think!

Next: Show Me The Rankings!

5.  Jordan Pacheco (2011-2014, fWAR -2.9)

Yeah, it’s true, writing Pacheco in as an “all-time” Rockies anything didn’t feel very natural … but Jordan does rank third on our list for plate appearances with 935. But let’s be real, dude only makes our list by default.

Pacheco is the only other Rockies player in history besides those who occupy our top four spots to qualify for our list (500 PAs, with a majority of playing time coming at first). Initially, making our list by default might seem a little depressing, but the truth is, it speaks to how stable the position has been for Colorado in their short history.

Drafted in the ninth round of the 2007 draft, Pacheco is a homegrown product who made his Rockies debut on September 6, 2011. Collecting two hits and two RBIs, Pacheco made a strong first impression. Utility player at heart, Pacheco did play a majority of his games at first base despite starting 80 games at third in 2012.

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That 2012 campaign would be Jordan’s best as a Colorado Rockies player. Pacheco overachieved to the tune of a .309 average and managed to finish sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. A sophomore slump hit Jordan hard in 2013 as could only muster a .239 average. Off to another sub-par start at the plate in 2014, Jordan and the Rockies decided needed a change of scenery was necessary.

For his Colorado career, Pacheco hit .281 with only eight homers and 98 RBIs. Currently, Jordan is trying to earn his stripes as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.

Next: The Great Giambino

4.  Jason Giambi (2009-2012, fWAR 1.0)

Jason Giambi‘s 518 career at-bats for Colorado barely qualifies him for our list, but here we are … anointing Giambi as an all-time Rockies great. Giambi’s Major League resume plainly speaks for itself. Colorado didn’t get the premier years, but Giambi had enough left in the tank to provide for some magical Rockies moments, especially late in games. The greatest example this writer can think of came in 2010.

With the Boston Red Sox visiting Coors Field for the first time since the 2007 World Series, the heartbreak and embarrassment of being blown out in that World Series resurfaced for many Rockies’ fans. In game two of that series, the Rockies and Red Sox were deadlocked at a six-all tie. With lock-down closer Jonathan Papelbon on the mound, Giambi came up to the plate with a man on and one out. Let’s just say Giambi delivered and that it was sweet to send Boston off into the night.

Over his 20-year career, Giambi was a five-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger and an AL MVP. Obviously, Giambi has made a major impact on the game of baseball on the field, but Giambi has made a major impact on the game off the field as well.

As one the sport’s premier players, Giambi has been categorized as a guy you want in your clubhouse as a leader and was even once a finalist for the Rockies managerial job before it was handed over to Walt Weiss. Giambi’s off-the-field contributions won’t always been seen as positive however.

Giambi’s career almost ended before he even hit Blake Street. Jason played the prime of his career during the “steroid era” of baseball and, after being implicated in the infamous BALCO scandal, it appeared Giambi’s legacy would be tarnished forever. But then something unprecedented happen … Giambi owned up to it. Although somewhat belatedly, Giambi admitted to making mistakes, which many of his peers at the time (Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds and others) were failing to do.

The admission and ownership of his actions allowed Giambi to rebuild his reputation, find a rare second chance with fans, and ultimately become a late night hero and fan favorite in Colorado. Giambi played his last game in 2014 as a member of the Indians at the age of 43.

Next: Another Former AL MVP Comes to LoDo

3.  Justin Morneau (2014-2015, fWAR 3.1)

Like Giambi before him, Justin Morneau enjoyed great success as a hitter in the American League and even won an MVP award along the way. But, once again Colorado didn’t get those prime years. Instead Colorado was receiving an aging All-Star who was fighting for his career due to concussion-related issues.

Morneau spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins and then was shipped to Pittsburgh in a deadline deal as the Pirates were pushing towards the playoffs. Proving himself serviceable, Colorado took a chance on Justin and signed him in 2014. In his first and only full season with Colorado, all Morneau did was hit for a .319 average and earn himself a National League batting title. Once a premier power hitter, Morneau only managed 17 bombs in that 2014 season but it’s fair to say Colorado got the bang for their buck.

2015 would prove to be much more difficult for Morneau and the Rockies. Morneau suffered another concussion on May 13 and ended up playing only 49 games. Morneau is currently a free agent and figures to play into a contending team’s playoff plans. Assuming the Rockies don’t resign Morneau at any point, he’ll finish his Colorado career with a .316 average.

Next: The Big Cat

1.  Todd Helton (1997-2013, fWAR 54.8)

As if you had any doubt who occupies our top spot. Todd Helton is the greatest player to ever put on purple pinstripes. Todd played all 17 years of his Major League career with Colorado, and an overwhelming major of those seasons were on losing teams. The grace, and team-first attitude that Helton carried with him on a daily basis is a shooting star in today’s game.

In order to list all of Helton’s accomplishments, it would take an entirely separate article, but here some of the most notable. Helton is the the Rockies all-time leader in: offensive WAR, games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, total bases, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, walks, singles, extra base hits, sacrifice flies, and runs created. Helton is the only Rockie with 300+ home runs, and the only Rockies player to have his number retired. Do you know what his career batting average was? I’ve been trying to set you up for this … it was .316.

Helton, who was Peyton Manning’s backup in college, was drafted by Colorado eighth overall in the 1995 MLB Draft. In 1997, Helton made his Rockies debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates where he actually started in left field. In that game, Helton would collect his first Major League hit, a single, and his first career home run. In his first full season in 1998, Helton finished second to the Cubs’ Kerry Wood for the NL Rookie of the Year award.

Helton’s best individual season came in 2000 when he lead the league in hits (216), doubles (59), RBI (147), AVG (.372), OBP (.463), SLG (.698) and total bases (405). That year Helton would make his first of five All-Star games, finish fifth in the MVP vote (a career-best), and win his first of four Silver Slugger awards. Helton finished his career as the club’s single-season record holder for doubles (59), home runs (49), and walks (127).

Next: Memories of Key Players at Double-A Tulsa

As a Rockies fan, there is no doubt that Helton made an impact on you, or made chills run down your spine at some point. For this writer, it in came on June 19, 1999, when I attended my first Rockies game ever at the age of 10. Helton hit for the cycle in a 10-2 win over the Florida Marlins. At the time, I didn’t understand the rarity of what I just witnessed, but as an adult I never forget watching Helton round third after blasting one into the Coors’ fountain. As an adult, who could ever forget watching Helton scream in the sky and clinching his fists after catching the finale out of the 2007 season, sealing his first-ever trip to the postseason?

We here at Rox Pile want to know your favorite Helton moment, so provide a comment and let us know!