COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Knoxville native Todd Helton fell just short of being elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday afternoon.
The VFL was 11 votes shy of being selected for a spot in Cooperstown. Helton landed on 72.2% of ballots out of the necessary 75% needed to be elected.
The lone inductee voted into this year's class was third baseman Scott Rolen, who received 76.3% of votes. Helton will be eligible for election once again on next year's ballot.
Helton spent his entire MLB career with the Colorado Rockies, playing for the organization from 1997-2013.
After graduating from Central High School, he played at the University of Tennessee. He most notably won the Dick Howser Trophy in his junior season in 1995, which is given to the National Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year.
Later that year, he was taken eighth overall in the MLB Draft by the Rockies. He spent two years in the minors before making the show.
He went on to an illustrious career. He was a five-time MLB All-Star, three-time Golden Glove winner and a four-time Silver Slugger award winner.
He was also the NL batting champion and MLB RBI leader in 2000.
After a storied career, the Rockies retired his No. 17 jersey in 2014.
