Leading OFF
Hoffman takes rightful place at Hall as closer and teammate
He was saving games when most of the country was sleeping.
He was becoming one of the greatest closers in baseball history despite his own general manager refusing to watch him.
He was the West Coast version of Mariano Rivera.
He is Trevor Hoffman, who will be inducted into the hallowed grounds of the National Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.
Hoffman was such a treasure and San Diego icon that San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who managed Hoffman through most of his career, is planning to leave the Giants July 28, fly to Cooperstown, New York, and return to San Francisco the next day, just to witness the event. He and Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor, who also plans to attend the induction to pay tribute to pitcher and former teammate Jack Morris, will be the first active managers to be at the ceremony in modern baseball history, Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson says.
“I can’t miss it,” Bochy says. “You’re talking about a guy who not only meant everything to the San Diego Padres franchise but exemplifies everything that is great about baseball. He not only was one of the greatest relievers I’ve ever seen, but the greatest clubhouse leader I’ve ever been around.”
The night of Sept. 7, 2010, will resonate forever for Hoffman’s Brewers teammates in Milwaukee who witnessed Hoffman become the first player to record 600 saves in his career, a milestone that led him to this weekend’s induction.
You know how he celebrated one of baseball’s historic moments?
He stood up and gave a speech to his teammates, retired to the trainer’s room and sat there with trainers, clubhouse attendants and teammates for six hours, kicking back and telling stories and downing a few beers.
“I’ll never forget the night as long as I live,” says Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell, Hoffman’s former teammate in Milwaukee. “It was like a military general speaking. It was incredible. It was the kind of thing that impacts you. The night was all about him, but what he said wasn’t a thing about him.
“Whoever was in that room will remember it forever.”
Really, whoever was around Hoffman during his career will cherish that time.
“I don’t remember what year it was, but seeing him, you could see he was headed to the Hall of Fame. I love the way he went about his business. I love the way he took the young players under his wing and led them in the right direction,” says former shortstop Alan Trammell, who will be inducted alongside Hoffman. “I really wish I could have played with Trevor Hoffman.”
Hoffman was an old soul who could have played in any era. He was working out and running on the field before his teammates even got out of bed. He was in the clubhouse talking baseball late at night with anyone who wanted to stay.
And in the ninth inning when most of America was sleeping, he’d enter the game about 1 a.m. ET and shut the door, accumulating 601 saves, the second most behind Mariano Rivera (652) in baseball history. His career ERA was 2.87.
It’s too bad most of America missed one of the greatest relievers who ever lived, but then again, so did the late Kevin Towers, the Padres’ former general manager.
Towers, like most in baseball, was superstitious. Hoffman came into games to protect a lead in the ninth inning, Towers would always duck out, believing he was bad luck.
Sitting behind home plate one day in 2006 at Dodger Stadium, Towers told Padres scout Scott Littlefield that they needed to leave, with the Padres leading by four runs. Towers walked into the visiting clubhouse, heard the roar of the Dodgers crowd, asked what happened, and Littlefield told him the Dodgers homered.
“Kevin says, ‘I can’t watch this; I’ve got to hide,’ ” Littlefield says. “So there are all of the equipment bags from the Pirates in the hallway, because they were playing the Dodgers next. Kevin starts climbing. And climbing. He climbed all of the way up to the roof, over the side, and I couldn’t even see him.
“We kept hearing the crowd noise. There was homer after homer. Four of them in all. Eventually, we lost the game on a Nomar Garciaparra walk-off.
“Well, Kevin couldn’t believe it. He storms into the clubhouse and was furious. He ran right into (manager) Bruce Bochy and wanted to fire him.”
So here is Hoffman, one of the greatest relievers who ever lived, and his own GM barely saw him pitch.
“It was hysterical,” Hoffman says. “I’m not sure how I even knew that. I just know that at some point, at the end of my run in San Diego, someone told me, ‘You know, KT kind of disappears when you come into games.’ ... It cracks me up to this day hearing the stories how he would get stuck in hallways just to avoid watching me.”
Hoffman, 50, plans to talk about Towers in his Hall of Fame speech. He’ll certainly discuss Bochy’s impact. The inspiration from his brother, former infielder Glenn Hoffman, and a longtime Padres coach. Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. His parents. Even the clubhouse attendants and trainers who helped him along the way.
“It’s a team game, and there are always going to be times when you’re not at our best,” Hoffman says, “and that’s when you are going to rely on people. I had a lot of help along the way. I wish I could thank everyone. I know I wouldn’t be standing on that stage without them.”
Certainly, he came a long way from being a minor league shortstop with the Cincinnati Reds to play an 18-year career.
“I grew up watching him with the Padres and Mariano with the Yankees,” Dodgers All-Star closer Kenley Jansen says. “It’s amazing what he did. I definitely admired him and wanted to be just like him.
“He’s what we all want to become.”