Triple-A is sometimes the last stop for those on their way to the major leagues. For minor league first baseman Joe Koshansky, playing behind Todd Helton could mean another season with the Sky Sox in Colorado Springs.

“I don’t worry about it,” Koshansky said after the team’s first full practice earlier this spring. “I just got to, you know, go out there, try and get better and do what I can to help us win this year. If that means going down to the Springs and playing then coming up later in a situation where they need me, that’s fine with me. Just one of those things where I just want to help us win.”

Not only is Koshansky content with his role, but he has taken the advantage of learning from one of the games best first basemen.

“He’s obviously a great player and a great infielder, a great hitter,”, he said of Helton. “I just try to soak up as much as I can from him.”

Koshansky has achieved success at just about every level he has played. As a senior playing for Virginia in 2004, he was the school’s first Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year.

After the 2005 season, he was named Colorado’s Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America after batting .289 with 97 runs, 34 doubles, 38 home runs and 115 RBIs in Single and Double-A.

In 2006 he was voted into the Double-A Texas League All-Star Game and earned a spot on the U.S. roster in the MLB Futures All-Star Game. Last season, his first full campaign with the Sky Sox, he led the team in hits, home runs, RBIs, walks and games. He also made the PCL All-Star Game.

He was called up to the Rockies and made his major league debut Sept. 1, 2007. He played three games at first base for the Rockies. Known for his power-hitting capabilities, Koshansky struggled, going 1-for-12 with five strikeouts; statistics that have left him wanting more.

“Once you get a small taste of the big leagues, you want to stay there,” Koshansky said. “I’d like to come in, play as well as I can here and carry that into the season and just see what happens.”

The 6-foot-4 25-year-old missed being a part of the postseason roster, but has been anxious to be a part of the team.

“I think that we definitely created a name for ourselves,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s going to overlook us this year. You just got to go out and play well. Those teams got better as well and I think the West is definitely going to be strong and we’ll just see what happens.”

With the season about a month away, Koshansky has time to prove himself, but until then, he is hoping that this waiting game will turn into a summer job in Denver.

“I feel good, you know, it’s good to be out here again. It’ll get better every day.”

The Sears’ Tower and the Chicago skyline in 2006. Photo by (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS