Already a proven commodity as a Montreal Expo, Canadian, Larry Walker certainly found Coors Field to his liking.  Walker would explode in 1997, winning the National League MVP Award, the Home Run Title, while boasting a Slash Line of .366/.452/720.  Not only did Larry Walker consistently hit over  .300 with Colorado, but he also had four seasons where he batted over.350!  Not surprisingly, this resulted in three batting titles, and with his excellent power numbers, he would also have five seasons over 1.000 in OPS.  Helton may be ranked higher for his overall play and lengthy tenure in Denver, but the best pure hitter that Colorado had has to be Larry Walker.

Walker would enter the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, on his tenth and final year of eligibility, and Colorado would retire his number 33 the year after.

For a five year period, Todd Helton was not just the best player for the Colorado Rockies but was one of the best players in the game. “The Toddfather” had five seasons where he never batted below .325, hit lower than 40 Home Runs, received MVP Votes and had an OPS less than one. Helton would also win four Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves. His 2000 Season would see him win the Batting, On Base Percentage and Slugging Title.

January 18 – February 7, 1960
Johnny Preston
Running Bear

While Pete Vuckovich would win the Cy Young Award in 1982 and finish fourth in voting the year before that, he probably shouldn’t have.  Vuckovich won on the strength of am 18-6 record but had a WHIP over 1.5 and did not finish in the top ten in bWAR for Pitchers.  Actually, he really wasn’t close.