Todd Helton, Nick Senzel Headline Cape League Hall Of Fame Inductees

EAST HARWICH – One of baseball’s most-feared hitters of the 21st century has cemented his place in Cape Cod Baseball League history. 

Just months after he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., longtime Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton headlined the Cape League’s 2024 Hall of Fame inductees during the league’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday at Wequassett Resort and Golf Club. 

Helton starred for Orleans during the summer of 1994, hitting .308 with nine doubles and 22 RBIs to help the then-Cardinals capture the East Division title. 

The former University of Tennessee star joined Nick Senzel (Brewster ‘15), Andrew Calica (Wareham ‘15), Pat Neshek (Wareham ‘01), Brick Smith (Hyannis ‘79-80) and longtime Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy (‘94-24) as this year’s inductees. 

“Listening to these guys’ stats today is just amazing,” Helton said during his induction speech. “They put some impressive seasons together. When I was here, I was just trying to get used to a wood bat, and these guys were hitting .425 and winning MVPs and stealing bases — which I could never do. 

“To do that in a league as historic as the Cape League is amazing.”

Helton made his Major League debut with the Rockies in 1997 before amassing 2,519 hits, 369 home runs, 1,406 RBIs and 1,401 runs during his 17-year career. He was a career .316 hitter and five-time All Star, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and four-time recipient of the Silver Slugger Award. 

In July, he was immortalized among the game’s greats in Cooperstown. 

“This year has been humbling, and I’m so grateful for so many for celebrating with [my wife] Christy and myself in Cooperstown and here today,” Helton said. “Driving from Hyannis, I felt a little emotional thinking back to that season in 1994. 

"On Saturday, we drove over to Eldredge Park. I love that park. We started walking the field and I started reminiscing about that season here.”

Helton reflected on the time he spent at Eldredge, remembering the fans sitting on the hill on the first-base side and the weather being perfect. 

“I didn’t realize at the time that the fans got free admission, and I think that’s the coolest thing. It makes it even more special,” he said.

“I remember the feeling of playing the game I loved all summer in the picturesque atmosphere in perfect weather,” Helton continued. “It actually felt like a movie set to me. The summer of ‘94, with the wood bat, made my walk into professional baseball way more comfortable.”

Although baseball was Helton’s focus that summer, he shared one memory of a brief moment that he and his roommates were able to let their focus slip away from the game. 

“[Our host parents] wouldn’t let us watch TV, but they pulled out a black-and-white TV so we could watch the OJ chase,” he said, drawing laughs from the sold-out crowd at Wequassett. 

Like Helton, Senzel shined at Tennessee before arriving on the Cape in 2015. The hard-hitting infielder batted .364 with four homers and 14 stolen bases. 

He was named the league’s MVP and Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner after leading the league in runs (34), RBIs (33), total bases (86), extra-base hits (21), and slugging percentage (.558).

“It’s a product of the work and preparation I put in, something I can be proud of,” Senzel said of his induction. “Knowing the history of the league and how many great players go on to have great careers, I’m proud to be alongside the players in the Hall of Fame.”

Brewster manager Jamie Shevchik introduced Senzel during the ceremony. Shevchik said he had no idea how much of an impact Senzel would make in what was Shevchik’s first summer leading the Whitecaps.

“I had no idea that I was about to have a front row seat to watch good become great, to watch amateur become professional, and to watch someone’s dreams become a reality,” Shevchik said. “This didn’t happen because of me, it didn’t happen because of Brewster, it didn’t happen because of the Cape League, and it didn’t happen because of Tennessee. We were just the audience that had the better seats. 

“We had backstage passes to watch the rise of a superstar in the making.”

Prior to the induction ceremony, the league presented longtime Chatham groundskeeper Robbie Grenier with the Fred Ebbett Lifetime Achievement Award during a pre-ceremony brunch. 

Yarmouth-Dennis president Paul Izzo was awarded the Richard “Dick” Sullivan Executive of the Year Award, and The Ninety-Nine Restaurant and Pub received the Peter Gammons Award of Excellence and Distinction for its continued support of the league.