Off Topic » the Colorado Rockies decided to go public

PHOENIX -- Todd Helton has had enough. Having decided earlier this year that this will be his final season, the Colorado Rockies decided to go public. "I didnt want to say I was going to return and then come back in," Helton said before Sundays game against Arizona. "I talked to my wife and thought about my body and mentally how I felt going out there for every game. Im 40. Its time to go. Its a young mans game." Helton has spent his entire 17-year major league career with the Rockies and set franchise records in nearly every offensive category. He announced his decision after Saturday nights 9-2 loss, when he hit his 586th double. His final game at Coors Field is slated for Sept. 25 against Boston, which swept the Rockies in the 2007 World Series. The final game of his career figures to be Sept. 29 at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Helton joins New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera among players retiring this year. Rivera announced his decision during spring training. "I wanted to go into the last homestand knowing it was the last," Helton said. "It was brought up to me last week that I couldnt look at it from my perspective. I had to look at it from the fans standpoint. I couldnt be selfish about it." Helton began Sunday as a career .317 hitter with 367 homers, 1,397 RBIs, 1,394 runs, a .415 on-base percentage and a .539 slugging percentage. He was an All-Star from 2000-04 and is the Rockies leader in games, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, runs and walks. He also won three Gold Gloves at first base. Helton won the NL batting title with a .372 average in 2000, when he led the league with 59 doubles and 147 RBIs and also hit 42 home runs. In 2007, he hit .320 with 17 homers and 91 RBIs. Colorado won 14 of its final 15 regular-season games and seven straight playoff games before Bostons sweep. "Obviously, yeah, I wish we did win a World Series," Helton said. "But when I look at it, I think I was very blessed, fortunate to be in the World Series. I look at the lot of things we did accomplish and not the one we didnt." Vente Salomon Pas Cher . Locke overcame a shaky start to pitch seven innings and Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Acheter Salomon Pas Cher . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. http://www.paschersalomon.fr/ . Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup. Chaussure Salomon Destockage . The Henry Burris-led squad finished second in the East Division before advancing to the Grey Cup where they ultimately fell to the home field advantage wielding Saskatchewan Roughriders. Destockage Salomon Pas Cher . -- Jim Furyk was 10 shots worse and right where he wanted to be Saturday in the BMW Championship.The Dallas Cowboys are releasing Kyle Orton after their backup quarterback missed all the off-season workouts amid reports he was considering retirement. A person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Cowboys were cutting ties with Orton slightly more than a week before the start of training camp. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the decision. The 31-year-old Orton started the finale last year after Tony Romo injured his back a week earlier. The Cowboys lost to Philadelphia, their third straight season-ending defeat against an NFC East rival with a playoff berth on the line. The new backup is likely to be Brandon Weeden, Clevelands first-round draft pick in 2012. The Cowboys signed Weeden in March, and he worked with the first team during the off-season while Romo continued his recovery from back surgery. Orton was fined about $70,000 for failing to report during the off-season and missing the mandatory minicamp in June. The move saves DDallas about $3.dddddddddddd25 million this season, but will cost the team about that amount on the salary cap over the next two seasons. After getting into just one game in his first season with the Cowboys in 2012, Orton played briefly in two games last year before starting against the Eagles. He was 30 of 46 for 358 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against Philadelphia, including one late that clinched the Eagles 24-22 win. Orton has started 70 of 75 games in a nine-year career. He spent his first three seasons in Chicago before going to Denver, where he lost the starting job to Tim Tebow and signed with Kansas City after the Broncos cut him during the season. Weeden started right away after the Browns took him with the 22nd pick, but was benched for good late in his second season with a career record of 5-15, including losses in all five starts in 2013. Weeden turns 31 in October but is going into just his third season because he spent five years playing professional baseball out of high school. ' ' '