Trevor Hoffman
| Trevor Hoffman | |
|---|---|
| San Diego Padres – No. 51 | |
| Closer | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| debut | |
| April 6, 1993, for the Florida Marlins | |
| Career statistics (through June 26, 2007) | |
| Saves | 503 |
| Strikeouts | 983 |
| Earned Run Average | 2.69 |
| Teams | |
| |
Trevor William Hoffman (October 13, 1967, Bellflower, California) is a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who has played for the San Diego Padres since 1993. He bats and throws right-handed. He reigns as the all-time Major League save record holder with 502 total saves, having broken the previous record held by Lee Smith on September 24, 2006. Hoffman is frequently referred to as one of the greatest closers in baseball history. He has been listed by major sports publications as one of the most underrated players in baseball,[1] and is considered extremely likely to be elected to the Hall of Fame.[2]
Early life
When Hoffman was six weeks old, he had to have one of his kidneys removed because an arterial blockage had formed there. As a kid growing up near Anaheim, he wasn't allowed to play football or wrestle, but he played most other sports. He especially loved baseball because his brother Glenn, who was nine years older, became the shortstop for the Boston Red Sox when Trevor was 12. "I was the perfect age," Trevor says. "I'd hang around the clubhouse, wear his hat, his shoes, even though they were 10 sizes too big."
When he wasn't following Glenn, or his other brother, Greg, a high school basketball coach, he was going with his father, Ed, to California Angels games. For 15 years Ed Hoffman was the famous singing usher at Angels games. Before that, he sang with the Royal Guards, a troupe that performed all over the world. "We get our professionalism from him," Trevor says. "But none of us kids can carry a tune. It's pretty sad, because my father [who died in 1995] was great." Trevor's mother, Mikki, is a former ballerina who was born in England. "She says we get our athleticism from her," says Trevor.
Trevor Hoffman proposed to his wife, Tracy, a former Buffalo Bills cheerleader, during Super Bowl XXVII in 1993. They have three sons: Brody Burke, Quinn Eddie, and Wyatt Quade.
Career
Originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds as a shortstop after leading the University of Arizona team in hitting in 1988 with a .371 batting average, 35 points better than teammate J.T. Snow in 1989, Hoffman was converted to a pitcher in 1991 after batting .212 with 23 RBI in 103 games while playing short and third for Single-A Charleston (then a Cincinnati Reds minor league affiliate). The move, suggested by Charleston manager Jim Lett, was so successful that in his first season on the mound, Hoffman threw a total of 47 2/3 innings at Cedar Rapids and at Double A Chattanooga, and had a 1.89 ERA and 75 strikeouts.
Hoffman proved to have such a live arm that he was taken by the Florida Marlins in the 1992 expansion draft and a year later was involved in the five-player trade that sent slugger Gary Sheffield from the San Diego Padres to Florida during the infamous 1993 fire sale. Hoffman is the only prospect acquired from the fire sale to develop into a legitimate star despite the Padres dumping players the caliber of Sheffield, Fred McGriff, Bruce Hurst, and Craig Lefferts among others.
During the strike-shortened 1994 season, Hoffman first took over closer duties, replacing Gene Harris. Although at the time Tony Gwynn's flirtation with batting .400 was the only truly positive note in that terrible season for the Padres, in retrospect Hoffman's 20 saves and ERA of 2.57 portended a brighter future for himself and the team. 1995 was a step backwards and remains Hoffman's worst non-injury year as a closer, with an ERA of 3.88; though he had 31 saves, Hoffman also finished with 7 blown saves. The next two years showed great improvement and first achieved Hoffman larger notice. Both years he pitched over 80 innings, with 111 strikeouts, averaged approximately 40 saves, and had ERAs of 2.25 and 2.66.
The 1998 season was arguably Hoffman's best. He had a career-high 53 saves and a career-low 1.48 ERA. His 53 saves that year tied the NL single-season record set in 1993 by the Cubs' Randy Myers. His numbers got him into the Cy Young race that year. However, he lost to Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves, despite receiving 13 first-place votes compared to Glavine's 11. To date, Hoffman is the only pitcher to ever receive the most first-place votes and not win the Cy Young. Hoffman didn't go unrecognized for his achievements in 1998, however. He won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award, the The Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award, and the Fireman of the Year Award. It was during this year that Hoffman began entering save situations in Padres home games with AC/DC's "Hells Bells" playing over the public address system, starting a trend in closers having their own entrance music.[3]
Hoffman followed his 1998 performance by averaging over 40 saves over the next four years (40, 43, 43, 38). His 1998 and 1999 seasons were rewarded with a four-year contract for 2000-04 worth $32 million. Further, his career was beginning to be followed on a national stage and compared to other greats including Dennis Eckersley. Hoffman broke Eckersley's record for most saves with one team (320) in 2002.[4] Significantly, Sports Illustrated dedicated their May 13, 2002 issue to Hoffman calling him the greatest closer in MLB history (see image above).[5]
On May 6, 2005, Hoffman recorded his 400th save against the St. Louis Cardinals and became the third pitcher in Major League history to reach the milestone, following John Franco (424 saves) and Lee Smith (478 saves). On August 24, 2005, Hoffman passed Franco for second place on the all-time saves list with #425 after the Padres beat the Houston Astros 7-4.
2006 was a year of several milestones, including one significant disappointment for Hoffman. He was the losing pitcher in the 2006 All-Star Game, despite having two strikes with two outs on eventual MVP Michael Young. On the positive side, August 20 marked Hoffman's 776th outing for the Padres, breaking the Pirates Elroy Face's major league record for most relief appearances with one club, according to the Elias Sports Bureau [6]. Even more significantly, on September 24, Hoffman became the all-time Major League saves leader by saving his 479th career game in a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, surpassing Lee Smith's record.
On April 29, 2007, Hoffman pitched in his 803rd game for the Padres, breaking the record for games pitched for any one team. The record was previously held by both Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators and Elroy Face of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On June 6, 2007, at PETCO Park, Hoffman recorded his 500th career save against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He struck out Russell Martin looking, with a fastball, to secure the 5-2 win for the Padres. Hoffman is the only pitcher in history to log 500 saves.
Pitches
When Hoffman first came into the league he was a fireballer, throwing in the low to mid 90’s with a tight curveball. Hoffman’s repertoire now includes one of the game’s best changeups, a more modest four-seam fastball in the 84-88 MPH range, a slower cut fastball that moves in towards a left handed batter, and he even mixes in a slider and a curveball a handful of times a year for good measure. However, for all intents and purposes, Hoffman is a two-pitch pitcher, alternating between fastballs and changeups. It is the arm action on the change up and the way that the pitch drops just before it reaches the plate (almost as if someone was pulling on a string attached to the pitch) that has allowed Hoffman to be as successful as he has been over the years.
Trevor Hoffman learned the change up, which he actually throws with a palmball [7] grip instead of a circle changeup grip, from teammate Donnie Elliott during the 1994 player's strike and began using the pitch in 1995 when he did not have his best fastball because he was pitching most of the year with a torn rotator cuff. Hoffman opted to pitch through the pain and have surgery in the off-season rather than end his season early. He came back the following year to throw in the low 90's, with a tight curveball and that terrific changeup, which reportedly made his fastball look as if was going 110 mph. The key to the pitch, Hoffman explains in the September 11, 2006 edition of ESPN The Magazine, is how he pinches the seam of the ball with his thumb and index finger as he releases it. He throws the changeup with the arm speed used to throw a fastball, the hitter thinks it's a fastball, it looks like a fastball. But when the hitter starts to swing, the ball is still yards away from the plate. In this article, writer Buster Olney attributes Hoffman's initial loss of velocity and torn rotator cuff in 1995 to horsing around at Del Mar Beach near San Diego during the strike.
As recently as 1998, Trevor’s finest season when he finished second in Cy Young Award voting and seventh in MVP voting, he was throwing his fastball in the low 90’s. However, his velocity has dropped off in recent years. His velocity has actually improved since he had shoulder surgery that forced him to miss most of the 2003 season. Before that procedure, Hoffman’s fastball had slowed to the mid 80’s. Despite his diminished velocity, Hoffman’s strikeout numbers remained very good, striking out more than a batter per inning every season up to 2003 and striking out nearly that many in 2004 and 2005. The 2006 season, though, saw his strikeout numbers fall off noticeably.
Accomplishments
- 5-time All-Star (1998-2000, 2002, 2006)
- 2-time winner of Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award (1998, 2006)
- 2-time winner of National League Fireman of the Year Award (1998, 2006)
- Hutch Award for service to the community (2004)
- Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (2006)
- 3-time winner of TSN Reliever of the Year Award (1996, 1998, 2006)
- 2-time National League saves leader (1998, 2006)
- NL Pitcher of the month for May, 2005
- Holds MLB record for most Pitching Appearances with one team (803)
- Holds MLB record with 8 consecutive seasons with 30 or more saves (1995-2002)
- Holds MLB record with 11 30-Save seasons (1995-2002, 2004-2006)
- Holds MLB record with 8 40-Save seasons (1996, 1998-2001, 2004-2006)
- Holds MLB record as the only pitcher with 500 MLB career saves (June 6, 2007)
- 89.59% career save percentage (482 saves in 538 opportunities) is best in MLB History (minimum 190 opportunities) (as of 2006 season)
- 3-time winner of the “DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award” (May, 2005; September, 2006; May 2007)
See also
References
- ^ Jason Stark, "Top Ten Underrated players," espn.com [1]
- ^ Jerry Crasnick, "Surveying Hoffman's Hall of Fame Case," espn.com, 2 June 2007 [2]; Crasnick's survey of 62 eligible Hall of Fame voters showed that 58 intend to vote for Hoffman with the remaining four undecided.
- ^ Anthony Tarantino, "For whom the bell tolls: Who'd have thought 'Trevor Time' would start a majorswide trend?" San Diego Union-Tribune, April 19, 2004 [3]
- ^ Bernie Wilson, "Hoffman's gone from boos to 321 saves with Padres," A.P. News Wire, May 2, 2002.
- ^ The largest story to advance this view is the cover story for Sports Illustrated, May 13, 2002 (see accompanying image). Hoffman is not, of course, the only name mentioned in this position: others include Goose Gossage, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, and Mariano Rivera (this list of common "best evers" taken from Mike Celizic, "Greatest Closer Ever? Easily Tiger," MSNBC.com July 24, 2006 [4]). Hoffman himself "true to form" with "humility" has denied the applicability of the claim and pointed to Rivera has the greatest of all time (Jill Lieber Steeg, "No one can get job done like Hoffman," USA Today September 27, 2006 [5])
External links
- ESPN (profile and daily updates)
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference