Dan Patrick's interview with Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton appears in the August 6 edition of ESPN The Magazine.

	Todd Helton flirted with .400 for much of last season, finishing at .372.

TH: Let's do this. Just don't jinx me again.
DP: Jinx you? You had one of the greatest seasons in the last 30 years: 200 hits, 40 homers, 100 RBI, 100 runs, 100 extra base hits, 100 walks [editor's note: make that 64 years; the last player to come close was Hank Greenberg in 1937].
TH: I just like to hear you say it, buddy.

DP: What is the disadvantage of playing at Coors?
TH: Mental strain.
DP: The rain?
TH: Dude. Mental strain. After a game, sometimes I'm thinking, "Man, I didn't even get a hit today. I didn't get on base." But that's when I worry too much about winning. It takes a toll, riding that mental roller coaster.

DP: Are there similarities between baseball players and football players?
TH: None. Baseball players are more superstitious. We think a lot more than football players do. Baseball players are goofs -- heads in the stands checking out broads, then next thing, hitting home runs. Football players are way more focused. They have tunnel vision the whole game.
DP: You never noticed a woman when you were playing football at Tennessee, is what you're saying.
TH: Put it like this: I was in college and on the sidelines the whole time. I was happy on that sideline too, baby. That's the only time I looked good.

DP: Favorite cartoon character growing up.
TH: You know my favorite was Spider-Man.
DP: What are we talking about here? Did you dress up like Spider-Man?
TH: Loved the Underoos. Wore them all the time. I mean, Mom would take me to the grocery store just in Spider-Man Underoos.
DP: Hmm ... that's a good visual.
TH: You're making me uncomfortable, dude.

DP: Do you like your baseball card picture?
TH: I've got a few chins, and they show up on the baseball cards every once in awhile.
DP: Which teammate has the worst baseball card?
TH: Cirillo. If you put a microscope up to his baseball cards, you could see his nose hair coming out.
DP: Now, see, he's the most sensitive guy you've got on the team -- he's going to freak that you said that.
TH: I'll have to talk him down.