Like everybody else, David Ortiz thought the Rockies were in trouble. It was the winter after the 1997 season and the Rockies had just lost their most productive hitter, Andres Galarraga, to free agency and the Atlanta Braves. Ortiz grew up in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the town that also produced Neifi Perez, who was breaking in as the Rockies' shortstop. "When they let Galarraga go, I was talking to Neifi during the winter back home and I said, 'How come you let the Big Cat go? What happened? Who are you going to have?"' said Ortiz, now a Boston designated hitter and first baseman. "And Neifi said: 'Boy, we've got this kid coming up, name of Todd Helton. You're going to hear that name a lot."' The left-handed-hitting Helton belted his 231st homer Tuesday, off left-handed Red Sox reliever Alan Embree. "Was Neifi right?" Ortiz said. "What do you think?" --

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