In a past life, I worked in the ticket office for the San Diego Padres. The time period was 1988 to 1999. My all-time favorite baseball player is Tony Gwynn. I even mention this in my Ignite Phoenix 8 presentation about Barbra Streisand (blatant plug for Ignite Phoenix). If asked to pick my second favorite Padre, it would be Trevor Hoffman.
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011, Trevor Hoffman announced his retirement from Majo
r League Baseball after 18 years. He leaves the game with a record 601 saves, 42 ahead of Yankee great Mariano Rivera and 300 ahead of any other active player. In 5 years, he will enter Cooperstown as No. 1 or No. 2 in all time saves.
Trevor arrived in San Diego in 1993 in a trade with the Marlins that sent Gary Sheffield to Florida. A converted shortstop, he would amass 552 saves with the Padres from 1993 to 2008. In his prime, he had a devastating combination of pitches. A fastball in the 93-95mph range and a change-up around 78mph made a lot of major league hitters look foolish. He spent the last two years with the Brewers, but in today’s press conference, the Padres announced he will return to work for them in a front office position.
I have a few vivid memories of Trevor. Each of them involves my family in one way or another. This is appropriate, as Trevor’s boys were always around the ball park, and family means so much to him.
My wife and her best friend Natalie adored Trevor. To be perfectly honest, they adored Trevor’s body. There was one Spring Training in Peoria where they were able to get right next to him, and they acted like 12 year old girls standing next to the most popular boy in school. Trevor worked extremely hard on his conditioning, and I know two women that appreciated it.
Trevor and 4 other Padres made the 1998 All-Star Game in Denver. I took my then 5 year old son on our first father-son trip to the Mile High City for the game. By sheer coincidence, Trevor an
d the other Padres that made the team (Tony, Greg Vaughn, Kevin Brown and Andy Ashby) were on our flight. Kev and I spent over an hour hanging with Trevor in the back of the plane. Trevor even had Kevin go up to each player on the flight and have them sign Kevin’s Padres cap.
Later that year, the Padres clinched the division at home. The players celebrated on the field, allowing the fans to be a part of the champagne soaked fun. I took Kevin down on the field to enjoy the action up close. We were standing on the pitcher’s mound, taking in everything around us when Trevor walked over, scooped a handful of dirt off the mound and stuffed it in the back pocket of Kevin’s jeans. “Hold onto that” he said and high fived Kev before heading off to hug another coach. Kevin still has that dirt in a plastic container…
Thank you Trevor for the wonderful memories you gave not only us as a family, but the city of San Diego. I can only hope they let Hells Bells play as you walk to the podium in Cooperstown five years from now…
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