Trevor Hoffman News

"The restless natives are booing Trevor Hoffman now, as if he's some rube just brought up from the farm carrying a straw suitcase. It seems ridiculous, like throwing an overripe tomato at Sinatra when he blew a lyric late in his career. It just isn't done. Not at home. But it's happening. Happened at Petco Park on Tuesday night, when Hoffman, composer of nationally famous "Trevor Time", baseball's career saves leader, gave up back-to-back home runs to the Twins in the ninth inning, leading to yet another Padres defeat."

"The presumption is that they do, or should, know each other. Maybe their careers really do create the perfect parallel, designed not to intersect. Other than that postseason thing, it's almost as if Trevor Hoffman of the Padres and Mariano Rivera of the Yankees have the same career path, but in different leagues. What Hoffman's been to his league, Rivera's been to his, and it's remarkable that they've managed to stay so far apart."

"One year ago today, he was a closer in decline. His earned-run average was an unsightly 5.30 and his four saves were cold comfort compared to the two saves he had blown and the three losses he had incurred. Mariano Rivera was all washed up. And then he wasn't. Now, again, he's nearly perfect. And maybe there's a message in that. Maybe the recent travails of Trevor Hoffman are not a sign of his personal apocalypse, but a temporary detour on his road to immortality. Perhaps those Padres fans who want him gone (and that lobby, granted, is growing louder) are guilty of haste as well as ingratitude."