University of Tennessee Athletics
Helton Moves Ahead Of Bagwell In All-Star 1B Race
June 18, 2002 | Baseball
June 17, 2002
NEW YORK (AP) - Former Tennessee All-America Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies moved ahead of Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros in the latest balloting at first base in the National League for next month's All-Star Game in Milwaukee.
Helton, who trailed Bagwell by 45,000 votes last week, pulled ahead by 75,180 votes in balloting released on Monday. Helton, the National League's starting first baseman at last year's All-Star Game, has 410,039 votes to Bagwell's 334,859.
Helton's .349 batting average is second in the league behind Barry Bonds, who is hitting .355. The Rockies slugger has hit 15 homers and driven in 56 runs. He owns a .440 on-base percentage and leads the league with 153 total bases.
Other NL position leaders are catcher Mike Piazza (761,897 votes) of the New York Mets, second baseman Roberto Alomar (470,0428) of the Mets, third baseman Scott Rolen (343,450) of the Philadelphia Phillies and shortstop Jimmy Rollins (317,061) of the Phillies. The top three outfielders are Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs (754,026), Vladimir Guerrero of the Montreal Expos (513,127) and Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, who leads all vote-getters with 845,032 votes.
Updated AL balloting will be released on Tuesday.
The AL and NL All-Star teams will be announced on Sunday, June 30, on ESPN at 7 p.m. EDT. The All-Star Game is July 9 at Milwaukee's Miller Park.
