When the Colorado Rockies' Todd Helton his his 534th double in the fifth inning of Wednesday's game with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he joined some elite company in the all-time doubles category. He is now tied for 31st with Lou Gehrig, and he should be able to enter the top 30 all-time this season.
Helton has seven doubles on the season, and if he matches his 2010 total of 18, he will have 545 for his career, two more than No. 25 on that list, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. And if Helton is able to stay healthy over 2012 and 2013, we could see him enter into the top 20 for all-time doubles.
Right now, Helton is second among the active leaders in doubles (Manny Ramirez's retirement in early April bumped him up a spot). Washington Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez, two years older than Helton at 39, is the leader with 568.
Todd Helton will likely finish his career with a batting average in the .320s, over 550 doubles and 336-plus home runs. How much support will he receive for Cooperstown?