Legendary closer Trevor Hoffman was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, becoming the first Arizona Wildcat enshrined in Cooperstown. Hoffman spent 18 seasons in the MLB (1993-2010), logging 601 saves, the second-most in MLB history. He spent most of his career with San Diego Padres, but did have short stints with the Florida Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers. The seven-time All-Star had a career 2.87 ERA and allowed 6.99 hits per nine innings, which is the seventh-best mark ever among pitchers with at least 1,000 career innings. Hoffman’s 9.36 strikeouts per nine innings rank 11th all-time, and he closed out 88.8 percent of his save chances, which is the third-best rate among closers with at least 300 saves. The Bellflower, California native was a third-ballot Hall of Famer, receiving 79.9 of the vote. (75 percent is required for induction.) “It’s hard to describe the emotions that flood you right away,” Hoffman said after the votes were cast in January. “I know it’s a very standard line, but so many things go through you. You think of your early days in the game, you think of parts of your career, you understand what you put in on a daily basis. To be sitting at this stage, seven years after you retire, it just comes full circle. It’s the cherry on top of a sundae.” Hoffman was a shortstop at the University of Arizona, and he led the Wildcats in hitting in 1988 with a .371 batting average. The Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 11th round of the 1989 MLB Draft, but he struggled in his first couple years in the minors, so the Reds moved him to the bullpen in 1991. Hoffman was chosen by the Marlins in the 1992 expansion draft, and made his debut with the club that year before being shipped to San Diego. The rest is history. Hoffman used a devastating combination of hard fastballs and wicked changeups to stifle batters for nearly two decades. He was the all-time saves leader when he retired after the 2010 season. “I couldn’t have imagined being in a different role,” Hoffman told MLB.com. “There’s nothing better than flying those doors open, hearing some cool music, getting the fans riled up and having that home cooking to go out and get things done. It’s a great role. It’s something I cherished.” "There's no statistic that can quantify what you mean to me. "@THoffman51 thanks Bruce Bochy and asks his teammates in attendance to stand during his #HOFWKND speech. pic.twitter.com/cen9WIoX9c — MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 29, 2018<doc-sep>He began with a tribute to San Diego and by quoting another Padres icon. He closed with words of wisdom. From start to finish, it was vintage Trevor Hoffman. The San Diego great, whose stature is such that next month he will have a 15-foot-high statue of bronze erected at Petco Park, on Sunday was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Hoffman is just the 226th player to make the Hall and the third to do so with his plaque depicting him in a Padres cap. Advertisement “Hello, Cooperstown,” Hoffman said, donning reading glasses as he took the dais in front of family, friends, former teammates and about 53,000 others spread out across the grassy field between the Clark Sports Center and a hilltop forest. “I hope you’re enjoying a little bit of San Diego weather today.” Hoffman’s briskly delivered 10-minute speech featured the usual thank-yous and two moments in which he briefly choked up while speaking of his brothers and his wife. It was also part motivational speech and very much a tribute to where he played the vast majority of his career. “Allow me to drop an ‘Oh Doctor’ on you!” Hoffman shouted near the outset. He quickly explained, “You San Diego fans that made the long journey and those back at Petco Park, you get it – Jerry Coleman’s signature call.” That prompted cheers from Padres fans in attendance, numbering a thousand or more and among the largest contingent of any fan base celebrating an inductee on Sunday. The group was possibly the most vociferous in its cheers, too, rivaling the droves from the Dominican Republic on hand to celebrate Vladimir Guerrero’s induction. Former Braves slugger Chipper Jones, the first enshrinee to speak, paid tribute with brief remarks about each of his fellow inductees. Jones demonstrated an understanding of Hoffman’s importance in the city where he played. “I hated facing you, bro,” Jones said. “Hated it. You had the most devastating change-up I’ve ever seen in my life. You’ve been a great ambassador for the city of San Diego and the game of baseball.” Hoffman was among six inductees — along with San Diegan Alan Trammell, Guerrero, Jones, Jack Morris and Jim Thome — who spoke Sunday, with 51 Hall of Famers sitting behind them. Advertisement It was the largest gathering of Hall of Famers and the second-largest crowd to witness an induction ceremony, after the 82,000 who attended the enshrinement of Padres great Tony Gwynn and Orioles ironman Cal Ripken Jr. in 2007. Hoffman compared the “butterflies” he felt to pitching in the World Series. “It was a moment I would never forget,” he said afterward. “It’s hard to describe what it looks like from that perspective. … You’re pretty out there on an island.” Hoffman’s bronze plaque was unveiled at a ceremony Sunday evening inside the Hall of Fame’s museum. At that time, the players with the interlocking “SD” on their caps in the plaque gallery will include just Dave Winfield, Gwynn and Hoffman. Advertisement Many of the Padres fans who attended this weekend said they did so mostly to pay tribute to Hoffman but also because they knew he would be the last Padres player enshrined for the foreseeable future. After his full name – Trevor William Hoffman – and a listing of the three teams for which he played, his plaque’s inscription begins, “Master of a mystifying change-up. Became the first pitcher to reach the 500- and 600-save milestones.” It goes on to list the seven All-Star appearances, the record nine times he saved at least 40 games in a season and that he saved at least 30 games in 14 of 15 seasons from 1995 through 2009. His 601 career saves once were the most in history and today stand second behind Mariano Rivera, and he is one of just five relief pitchers to be enshrined. Three of them – Hoffman, Rich Gossage and Rollie Fingers – played for the Padres for a portion of their lengthy careers. Advertisement Hoffman’s time in San Diego was, by far, the longest of those. His 16 years with the Padres, sandwiched by a half-season at the start with the Florida Marlins and two seasons at the end with the Milwaukee Brewers, make his tenure the second longest in franchise history behind Gwynn’s 20 seasons. In his speech, which he acknowledged that he sped through to avoid being overcome with emotion, Hoffman paid tribute to “Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn” as well as former third base coach Rob Picciolo, third baseman Ken Caminiti and General Manager Kevin Towers, all deceased. “We miss you all and lost you all too soon,” Hoffman said. Advertisement He recalled “Hells Bells.” “You, the fans of San Diego, made it what it was,” he said of the AC/DC anthem that accompanied his jog from the bullpen beginning in the middle of the 1998 season and lasting until his career ended in 2010. “The enthusiasm and energy created from the second you heard the first bell as I stepped on the field made every home game amazing. No one could have envisioned an entrance song being so exciting.” Among his San Diego tributes, Hoffman said: “Fifteen years in one spot, and that spot is San Diego. Jackpot!” He also praised his many teammates in attendance, singling out Brad Ausmus and Andy Ashby and their wives, as well as former Padres manager Bruce Bochy, who took time off from his job managing the Giants to attend the ceremony. Advertisement Hoffman recalled former Padres owner John Moores and his family as treating players like family. He thanked Padres owner Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler for allowing him to remain in baseball, working with the team as an adviser. “I love San Diego,” he said, “and I love being a Padre for life.” Hoffman mentioned the Padres’ tradition of honoring the military, and the son of a Marine said, “Freedom isn’t free.” He thanked his late father, Ed, who he said was smiling and smoking a cigar looking down, for instilling humility. To his mother, Mikki, who was in attendance, he attributed the lesson of anything worth doing being worth doing well. Advertisement Near the end, Hoffman thanked his wife, Tracy, and offered encouragement to their three sons, Brody, Quinn and Wyatt. He closed with the words: “To achieve true success, there are no shortcuts.” A first look at the Trevor Hoffman Hall of Fame plaque. 📷Milo Stewart Jr. #HOFWKND pic.twitter.com/q8lKvRCFOO — Baseball Hall ⚾ (@baseballhall) July 29, 2018 kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com<doc-sep>“Mr. [Jim] Rice reminded my kids yesterday that I was the kid he used to slap in back of the head for being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Hoffman recalled. “What a great experience for an 8-, 9-, 10-year-old kid to be able to grow up in that atmosphere in a big league locker room with all of those great players. It was great having a brother who was 10 years older and I got to experience from him what the major league life was like. COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman never played for the Red Sox, but he grew up with them as a frequent visitor to the McCoy Stadium and Fenway clubhouses when older brother Glenn played shortstop for the Red Sox and where former Pawtucket Red Sox president and co-owner Mike Tamburro nicknamed him “Trouble.” Advertisement “I was around Boggsy, and Rice and Yaz and Dwight. It was a pretty special moment that took me back more than 30 years ago when Glenn was breaking through, playing with the Red Sox. You don’t lose those bonds in the game,” he said. Hoffman grew up in Anaheim. His dad was an usher at Anaheim Stadium who also sang the national anthem before games. The singing usher with a booming voice. Hoffman, who will be inducted at ceremonies for his extraordinary career as a closer, mostly for the Padres, said, “I remember those days with the Red Sox vividly. I don’t think I listened very well, but when they came through the players would tell me to stay at my locker and don’t move. They all went out for batting practice and I was in the locker all by myself. I could see the candy aisle and all that other stuff over there. To see a few generations ago when a lot of guys stayed with their teams, to watch Yaz go by and Rice and Carlton Fisk and all of the guys Glenn came up with like Boggsy and [John] Tudor and Hursty and Gedman. It’s pretty cool.” Advertisement He said Dave Stapleton “indulged me a little bit. Marty Barrett was very nice to me. I was the “little brother” for sure. When they’d come through Anaheim, Mom would make a big lasagna dinner and a lot of them would come over for dinner. It had a very unique feel for a professional baseball team. It was like they were back in minor league ball and like they were staying with a host family. We had our vacations where we’d go back to the Boston area and visit Glenn. At first it was Pawtucket. I was actually at Fenway when Yaz hit his 400th home run and then we drove in Pawtucket to McCoy Stadium and that’s where I got nicknamed “Trouble” by Mike Tamburro and Ben Mondor, the late owner of the PawSox. We always had a good time going back East.” One reporter backtracked on the slap on the back of the head that Rice gave him. “I think I would have remembered if he gave me a good whack. He hit pretty hard so it was a loving tap like ‘Little man, you need to go back to your place,’ but all I remember is it couldn’t have been a better experience for a kid — the smell of the pine tar, all of the nuances of the game were heightened by being in the Red Sox locker room,” Hoffman said. Advertisement He experienced a similar situation with his own sons, who got to be in major league clubhouses while he played for the Marlins, Padres, and Brewers with 16 of those seasons coming in San Diego, where he went relatively unnoticed because of the market size and the West Coast. Hoffman saved 601 games, second most in MLB history (to Mariano Rivera, who is expected to be a first-ballot selection next season). Hoffman is the first closer to reach the 500-save milestone and the 600-save milestone. He’s also second all time in games finished — 856. He said his own kids got to rub elbows with the great Tony Gwynn and other Padres — Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley, Wally Joyner, and others. Not in Trevor’s wildest dreams did he ever believe he’d be a Hall of Famer. He spoke, in fact about how hard it was to live up to Glenn’s high school career and then his major league career. Glenn played for the Red Sox from 1980-1987, then he was traded to the Dodgers. He played for the Dodgers and for his hometown California Angels. He hit .242 over his nine-year career and then he stayed in baseball as a coach for the Dodgers and Padres and was a finalist for the Red Sox managing job that Terry Francona got. Glenn was a second-round pick of the Red Sox in the 1976 amateur draft out of Savanna High School in Anaheim. Advertisement Trevor was an 11th-round pick by the Reds as a shortstop in the 1989 draft out of the University of Arizona, but when he couldn’t hit enough he was converted to pitcher. He became a seven-time All-Star and the rest is history. “I don’t think it’s hit me yet, but it’s starting to,” Hoffman said. Glenn has taken time off from his Padres’ coaching job to be with his little brother at Sunday’s induction ceremony. They will certainly reminisce about how it all started — as “Trouble” in the Red Sox clubhouse. Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.<doc-sep>
Trevor Hoffman told his former teammates in the audience to stand up and be recognized. About two dozen men seated in various spots throughout the first few sections fronting the stage at Sunday’s National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony stood as the crowd applauded. Steve Finley, Archi Cianfrocco, Mark Loretta, Greg Vaughn, Mark Sweeney, Brad Ausmus and Andy Ashby. “Thank you for allowing me to cherish the role of teammate,” Hoffman said to the many who made the trip. Hoffman was enshrined in the Hall for his 601 career saves, second-most in history. Being a great teammate alone does not qualify one for the most hallowed of spaces. But it was always camaraderie and creating chemistry that Hoffman cherished as much as any part of being a ballplayer. “He had that ability to easily relate to a lot of guys,” said Tony Gwynn Jr. “He was the younger version of my dad, more outgoing.” Gwynn, whose father was inducted exactly 11 years before Hoffman, said “Hoffy” was the player who organized dinners and team outings and loved to spend time in the clubhouse with teammates. “That’s why so many guys came,” Gwynn said. Hoffman also said to his teammates during his speech: “Batting average, ERA, OPS and all the other numbers of the game, there is no statistic that can quantify what you mean to be. But there is a word, and it’s chemistry. Chemistry is what I strived for every year I played.” Hoffman’s bronze plaque with his likeness will hang forever in a gallery three alcoves over from the late Tony Gwynn’s. He paid tribute in his speech to “Mr. Padre.” He also singled out Ashby and Ausmus, along with their wives, with whom he and his wife, Tracy, have remained close. Also, in a speech of about 10 minutes, which he acknowledged was delivered briskly so that he did not become emotional, Hoffman also quoted legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Hoffman, who delivered a number of heartfelt, motivating addresses to teammates while he was a player, recalled afterward the affect Wooden’s teachings had on him. Wooden, he said, once “held court” at Petco Park, and Hoffman said he would read “Inch and Miles,” an animated book by Wooden, to his three sons when they were young. “Coach was special to me,” Hoffman said. Early in his speech, after a tribute to Jerry Coleman and a nod to the San Diego fans who had made the trip to upstate New York, Hoffman launched the core portion of his speech with a quote by Wooden: “Talent is God-given, be humble. Fame is man-given, be grateful. Conceit is self-given, be careful.” Each inductee was introduced via video by a former teammate or manager. Former Padres manager Bruce Bochy introduced Hoffman, and the current manager of the San Francisco Giants was also in attendance, having caught a red-eye flight from San Francisco. “It’s class,” Hoffman said after the ceremony. “It’s the way Boch is. There is a reason why he’s the had the success he’s had. He has the friendship and respect of the people he coached and managed 20 years ago and longer. It’s the man he is.” In his taped message, Bochy said this: “I can’t thank Trevor enough for all that he did on the field and off the field, in the clubhouse, all the leadership he provided for us.” kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com