Todd Helton's Central teammates ready to celebrate with him at Baseball Hall of Fame induction | Adams

Brad Pilkay knew of Todd Helton before he met him.

They were about 12 years old, playing in an all-star baseball tournament when somebody pointed toward another Little Leaguer and told Pilkay, “That’s Todd Helton.”

That’s all it took to boost Pilkay’s confidence.

“I’m playing against Todd Helton,” he thought. “I must be doing something good.”

Even at that age, Helton already was known to adults and kids in the Knoxville baseball community. He’s better known now, and his baseball community extends all the way to Cooperstown, New York, where he will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21.

Pilkay will be there. So will other members of the Central High School 1990 state championship baseball team. So will their coach, Bud Bales.

Andy Bolton, another player on that team, organized the weekend trip, which will include a game at Yankees Stadium, a Colorado Rockies Saturday party honoring Helton and Sunday’s induction ceremony.

Bolton estimated about 16 people, including former Central players and family members, will make the trip.

“We knew when he became a member we would go,” Bolton said. “We wanted to celebrate that final chapter with him.”

The prelude to Helton’s final baseball chapter came in January when he got the call that capped his career. He had been voted into the Hall of Fame.

The announcement might have come sooner if voters had focused more on Helton’s prolific stats and placed less weight on his having played home games at Coors Field.

You didn’t have to be a scientist to figure out that a ball could travel farther in high altitude. But Helton’s hits cut through thicker air, too. His lifetime batting average of .316 over 17 seasons was proof of that.

Bolton, who was in the Central starting pitching rotation with Chris Freeman and Helton, needs little prodding to go deep with Helton stats.

“He and Stan Musial are the only two players in MLB history with at least 2,500 hits, 550 doubles, 350 home runs and a batting average of .315 or better,” said Bolton, who has those stats memorized.

Helton passed the eye test before his stats produced double takes. The word got around even before Helton started at Central as a high school quarterback in the ninth grade.

Bales coached with Helton's uncle, Joel Helton, who was a longtime Central football coach. He heard Todd Helton stories from Helton's uncle; Helton's father, Jerry; and Helton's older brother, Rodney, who also played at Central.

“They were at practice every day,” Bales said of the Helton family. “They would let me know when Todd was at a Little League game.”

So, Bales had a scouting report on Helton long before the first baseman/outfielder/pitcher joined the high school team. Helton started out on the junior varsity but quickly moved up to the varsity after Bales’ catcher was injured.

That forced Bales to shift his first baseman to catcher. And just like that, Helton became Central’s starting first baseman.

“He led our team in batting four straight years,” Bales said. “He was always head and shoulders above most players. He batted .650 as a senior.”

Helton also drew an inordinate number of walks, many of them intentional. Because of that, Pilkay sometimes benefitted from hitting behind Helton.

“The main thing about Todd – and I think anybody will tell you this – he just wanted to win,” Pilkay said. “I remember one game he hit a home run and I hit a home run right after him. He was the first one out of the dugout to congratulate me.”

Members of that state championship team have stayed in touch and followed Helton’s success story, which continued at Tennessee, advanced to the Rockies and now, Cooperstown.

Pilkay wasn’t surprised where Helton’s career ended up.

“When Todd had been in the majors only five years, I told my brother-in law, ‘He’s gonna be in the hall of fame,’ " Pilkay said. “He looked at me like I was an idiot. But there was just something about Todd’s focus.”

Bolton witnessed that focus in Helton’s final weekend series at Coors Field in 2013. He had a clear view of the dugout when the Rockies came off the field but couldn’t see Helton.

Helton told him that he went through the tunnel into the clubhouse, where there were a couple of batting cages and computer access. He could view every at-bat he had taken against the pitcher he was facing that day.

ADAMS:Finally, Todd Helton is where he belongs — in the Baseball Hall of Fame

“He said that (former Rockies player) Andres Galarraga once told him, ‘This is where you work,’ “ Bolton said. “He took that advice.”

Focused to the very end, Helton didn’t change his approach in the final at-bats of his career. Now, almost 11 years later, he will receive the ultimate baseball reward.

And some of his old Central High teammates will be there to share the moment.

“He’s one of the best in the world and we played pepper, ran laps and played catch with him,” Pilkay said. “It kind of feels like we made it, too.”

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.