Former Arizona Wildcat baseball player and one of the best Major League Baseball closers of all-time, Trevor Hoffman, finally got the call from Cooperstown that he’ll be enshrined in the MLB Hall of Fame in June. He is the first Arizona Wildcat to ever make the MLB Hall of Fame.
Hoffman, the longtime San Diego Padres closer, missed out in his first two years of Hall of Fame eligibility, but this year he received votes from 79.9 percent of the ballots, which surpasses the rule of 75 percent of the ballots. Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Jim Thome are the other three members in the 2018 class.
Hoffman played his college baseball at Arizona from 1988-1989, starting at shortstop and leading the team in batting average with a mark of .371.
In the 1989 MLB draft, Hoffman was selected in the 11th round by the Cincinnati Reds. After a couple seasons in the minor leagues, Hoffman eventually transitioned to be a pitcher in ‘91. In 1993 he was traded to the San Diego Padres and was transitioned to be a closer. His 2009 season was his 14th and last season that he recorded at least 30 saves. Hoffman also had nine seasons where he had 40 saves, and at the time was a major league record.
As his career progressed, Hoffman started breaking MLB pitching records. He set the record for most games played with the same team (902) and also broke the record for most consecutive saves in franchise history (41). Throughout his career, Hoffman won many awards as well. Those include being named an NL All-Star seven times, winning the pitcher of the month twice, leading the NL in saves twice, and winning the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award given annually to a player who best exhibits character and integrity.
In 2010, Hoffman recorded his 601st career save. That set a new record in the MLB until the next season when Mariano Rivera broke that record. Hoffman sits at No. 2 on the all-time saves list and leaves a legacy as one of the best closers in MLB history. On Aug. 21, 2011 the San Diego Padres retired his number, 51.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will be from June 27-30 with the players officially being inducted on the 30th. This is the fourth time ever that a class will have four members and only the second since 1955.
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