SAN DIEGO — Ryan Helsley's four-seamer regularly hits triple-digits. He's 18 for 22 in save chances and has fanned 88 in 60 1/3 innings in this breakout year in the back of the Cardinals' bullpen.
One reason he's in this position has something to do with spending his summers in Oklahoma outdoors instead of pouring over baseball history.
So the 28-year-old right-hander simply had no idea that "Hells Bells" became synonymous with Trevor Hoffman and the Padres long before he first picked up a baseball, nor did he actually choose the walk-up song in St. Louis. That was the doing of the Cardinals' ballpark operations, playing off the nickname that pitching coach Mike Maddux gave Helsley as he was breaking through in the majors.
"I didn't watch too much baseball growing up, although I played a lot," Helsley said Tuesday afternoon in the visiting clubhouse at Petco Park. "I did not know that Trevor Hoffman had that as his walk-out, but that guy's a stud so it's pretty cool."
Admittedly, Helsley can only imagine what's been said about him using Hoffman's song in San Diego. Naturally, he doesn't pay much attention to social media, either, but he'll be happy to know the usage has been endorsed by Hoffman himself after finding clips of Helsley's walk-out on YouTube.
The biggest difference between what the Padres did for Hoffman and what the Cardinals do for Helsley is engulfing Busch Stadium in red lighting after the second bell tolls before AC/DC's guitar solo.
"Love the red-out," Hoffman said via text. "Brings back memories for me. Tell him great choice."
