Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton makes progress in Hall of Fame Voting, but obstacles still remain

There’s a wide range of obstacles for the former Rockie.

First and foremost, these gains are not going to continue at the same pace they are now. In Walker’s case, a major push on social media needed to happen and a revelation that advanced statistics are actually good helped dispel the Coors Factor that stained Walker in the eyes of some writers. Helton will still need help from both, but we’ll expand on that later.

Secondly, we need to consider the three current players who will be on the ballot for their 10th and final year: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling. While Schilling has requested that he be taken off the ballot so his case can rest with the Veterans Committee and his place on the ballot may be in question, Bonds and Clemens shouldn’t be going anywhere.

I suspect that many of the writers who have left these three off their ballots due to either their character issues or their steroid use are likely to finally vote them in. Especially in the cases of Bonds and Clemens, both are easily in the upper echelon of the all-time greats and it shouldn’t shock anyone that some writers view nine years of waiting as punishment for their steroid use that tainted baseball’s public perception. They’re going to take up some of the empty spots on ballots that showed this year, which featured 14 blank ballots that were submitted.