Todd Helton to play final game at Dodger Stadium

Major League Baseball and the National League West will say goodbye to a great player at the end of the 2013 season, as Rockies first baseman Todd Helton announced his retirement late Saturday night. Helton, who has played all of his 17 seasons with Colorado, will play his final game at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 29, the final day of the regular season.

Helton has hit .317/.415/.539 in his career and was a five-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner. Helton has 2,505 hits in his career, currently 96th all-time, and he is 38th all-time with 990 extra-base hits. His 586 doubles rank 16th all-time and lead all active players.

Helton, who turned 40 on Aug. 20, is the Rockies' all-time franchise leader in games played (2,235), plate appearances (9,401), runs scored (1,394), runs batted in (1,397), hits (2,505), doubles (586), home runs (386), walks (1,333) and Wins Above Replacement (61.1 per Baseball-Reference, 55.7 per FanGraphs).

He provided the first example of what kind of numbers a great player could amass if playing his entire career in Denver, but Helton was no Coors Field creation. His 133 career adjusted OPS+, which accounts for park factors and league environments, matches Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda and is ahead of Cooperstown-enshrined first basemen Eddie Murray (129), George Sisler (125) and Tony Perez (122) to name a few.

Helton hit .292/.395/.519 against the Dodgers in his career, including .267/.375/.411 at Dodger Stadium. Among opponents against the Dodgers since the team moved west in 1958, Helton ranks...

• Fourth in home runs (48), behind only Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds and Willie Mays
• Fifth in OPS (.914)
  
• Sixth in total bases (446)
• Sixth in runs batted in (153)
• Seventh in runs scored (133)
  
• Eighth in hits (251)
• Ninth in doubles (47)

Hats off to a great career for Helton, one of the most formidable opponents for the Dodgers in recent memory.