Rick Helling

Ricky Allen Helling

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 215 lb.
• School Kishwaukee College, Stanford University
• High School Bishop Shanley High School
• Debut April 10, 1994
• Final Game September 9, 2006
• Born December 15, 1970 in Devils Lake, ND USA

BR page

Biographical Information

One-time 20-game winner

Rick Helling is one of only three Texas Rangers to win 20 games in a season - the others are Ferguson Jenkins and Kevin Brown. He announced his retirement from baseball on February 6, 2007.

Helling was with Team USA when they got the Bronze at the 1991 Pan American Games. He was a Texas first round draft pick in the 1992 amateur draft, and was traded to the Florida Marlins for John Burkett during their initial AL West title-winning season in 1996. A year later, the Rangers re-acquired Helling for Ed Vosberg. Rick went 20-7 with a 4.41 ERA for the Rangers in 1998 and was a leader on the team which won its second divisional title. Texas won it again in 1999. Helling was 13-11 with a 4.84 ERA that season. During the next two years he won 28 games, then became a free agent. He pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2002, winning 10 games as that team also won a division title. In 2003, he was with the Baltimore Orioles, but they released him in August. Signing with Florida, he was 1-0 with a 0.55 ERA in 11 relief outings and made 4 appearances in the playoffs. The Marlins won the World Series that year, with Helling's former Rangers teammate Ivan Rodriguez also on the team. A later stop for Rick was with the Milwaukee Brewers and he ended his career with 93 wins, 81 losses and a 4.68 ERA.

Other Notes

On August 13, 1996, Helling threw a perfect game for the Rangers' AAA team, the Oklahoma City 89ers, right before being traded to Florida, but the trade had been agreed upon prior to the feat. In 2004, while in AAA, Helling's left arm was impaled by a piece of a broken bat.

He and Jeff Conine are the only two players to appear with the Florida in their two Championship seasons, in 1997 and 2003. Both played for other teams in intervening years, and in Helling's case, he had already been traded to Texas by the time the 1997 postseason began, so Conine is the only one to play in both World Series.

He is on the Texas Rangers top 10 list of pitchers in wins, games started, innings pitched and strikeouts. With Texas, he won 68 games and lost 51. Helling competed for the United States at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Notable Achievements

• 1996 Pitcher of the Year American Association Oklahoma City 89ers
• AL Wins Leader (1998)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 2 (1998 & 2000)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1998)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 4 (1998-2001)
• Won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003

Sources

Sources include: MLB.com article written by: T.R. Sullivan.