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Padres Press Clips Thursday, January 25, 2018

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Trevor Hoffman elected to Hall of Fame SD Union Tribune Lin 2

Trevor Hoffman: Career timeline, stats, numbers & SD Union Tribune Posner 6 'Hells Bells'

Trevor Hoffman built chemistry off field, defeated it SD Union Tribune Krasovic 10 from mound

Trevor's time is also 's time SD Union Tribune Acee 13

Hoffman's Hall call included plenty of chest-puffing SD Union Tribune Miller 16 Padres on the line

Padres roster review: Christian Villanueva SD Union Tribune Sanders 19

Padres' social media accounts were hacked; no imminent SD Union Tribune Lin 21 agreement with

Hall's bells: Cooperstown rings for Hoffman MLB.com Cassavell 23

Hoffman tips cap to Gwynn after Hall election MLB.com Cassavell 26

Track careers of new Hall of Famers MLB.com Mearns 28

Hoffman calm, collected upon getting 'the call' MLB.com Bloom 30

Trevor Hoffman goes from heartbreak to triumph with Yahoo! Sports Townsend 33 Hall of Fame election

Trevor Time! Hoffman will be next Padre inducted into FOX News Arroyo 35 Hall of Fame

Well, Hells Bells, Trevor Hoffman makes it to Cooperstown AP AP 36

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Trevor Hoffman elected to Hall of Fame

Dennis Lin

Trevor Hoffman sat at home, surrounded by family, when a 212 area code materialized on his iPhone screen. He enabled the “speaker” setting and listened as Jack O’Connell, secretary- treasurer of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, informed him he had been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Hoffman exhaled. “Keep it together,” he told himself. Then he spoke, expressing his appreciation.

The former , as synonymous with the Padres and San Diego as anyone since , nailed down a lifetime achievement Wednesday afternoon. On July 29, he will officially enter the ranks of baseball royalty, joining Gwynn and as the only players enshrined wearing a Padres cap.

His route to Cooperstown, N.Y., will have followed a path less traveled, a testament to baseball’s whims and the work ethic of a failed . In his third year on the ballot, Hoffman received 79.9 percent of the vote, easily clearing the 75 percent necessary for election.

“You hear Mr. O’Connell’s voice on the other line,” Hoffman said, “and you get blasted with a lot of emotions. You think about your teammates, you think about the grind that you go through on a daily basis that this game demands of you. And that’s the fun part. That’s the journey that you embrace.”

Hoffman, 50, will be inducted among one of Cooperstown’s largest classes, though membership still vaults him into the rarest air. , and fellow ballot holdover also received long-awaited phone calls Wednesday. Kearny High’s and were elected last month by the Modern Baseball Era Committee.

Hoffman is the sixth Hall of Famer who played most of his career as a reliever, alongside , , , and . Those

2 hailed from an era in which their numbers were not as intensely scrutinized or thoroughly dissected. A microscope hovered over Hoffman’s accomplishments for 807 days, a span that included two close but disappointing finishes.

“I didn’t really get caught up in that,” Hoffman said in a news conference at as mother Mikki, wife Tracy and sons Brody and Wyatt sat nearby. “I’m comfortable with the career I had, I’m comfortable in the way I went about it, and if enough people felt the same way I did about it, we’d be standing here today. And fortunately we are.

“I think it goes back to ultimately what I was asked to do, and I figured out how to maximize what I was capable of doing and tried to do it as best I could.”

The latest voting process reaffirmed the prevailing opinion that Hoffman’s late-grame credentials are unparalleled by anyone not named , almost certainly a first- ballot inductee in 2019.

Hoffman debuted with the Padres in June 1993, after he was acquired from the Marlins. The Orange County native spent the next 15 ½ seasons carving a legacy in San Diego, flustering batters despite modest velocity, and securing hundreds of victories.

The right-hander was the first to reach the 500- and 600- plateaus, and he retired after 2010 with 601, a total that has been surpassed by only Rivera. Hoffman ranks first, second and fifth all-time among relievers in per nine innings, saves and ERA. He went to seven All-Star Games and twice finished as the runner-up for a Award.

No other reliever rivals Hoffman and Rivera, who have lent their names to the majors’ annual top-reliever awards, in terms of success over a sustained period of time.

Greatness might have seemed possible when Hoffman was young, tagging along to with older brother and Red Sox shortstop Glenn. But in 1991, Hoffman was a minor league shortstop in the Reds organization, struggling to prove he belonged. Then- suggested a switch.

“I think at a lot of stages in this game you have to be a good self-evaluator,” Hoffman said. “And 25 errors at the break in A-ball and hitting .210 isn’t something you want to be sitting looking at. … I felt if I was going to be given the opportunity to go to the mound, I was going

3 to be a little bit prepared for it, having a fresher arm due to Dad’s wisdom and not pitching after Little League. I embraced it.”

Ed Hoffman died in 1995, the year after his son, adjusting to a shoulder injury that diminished his , learned a new change-up grip from teammate Donnie Elliott. Little did Trevor know that would lead to an equally iconic entrance song. Little did he know it would take him all the way to Cooperstown.

Well, that pitch and some old-fashioned hard work.

“When we were playing, it was always to get to the big leagues,” Glenn, now the Padres’ longtime third base , said. “And then once you get to the big leagues, it was always about, ‘Oh you get to stay here two years and you’re back down or done or whatever.’

“What’s special about (Hall of Famers)? It’s not all about numbers and stuff. It’s about being a leader and heart. It’s unbelievable. They stand out so much more. … They have that grit, that extra drive.”

It did not hurt that, similar to Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman was beloved by teammates, coaches, fans and others who traveled in the same circles. In addition to being the rare reliever to as a clubhouse leader, he built lasting friendships throughout the game.

Former Padres general manager , who traded for Hoffman more than two decades ago, still counts being awakened by a phone call in 1996 among his fondest memories. Earlier that night, Hoffman had saved yet another game, sealing the Padres’ first West title since 1984.

“You’re part of this,” Hoffman told Smith, then with the Tigers.

Hoffman continues to be an inclusive figure around town, among the most accessible members of the Padres’ front office. With fans lining a railing Wednesday, he stood in Petco Park’s Hall of Fame plaza and reflected on the distance he had traversed. He mostly succeeded in keeping it together; he grew emotional when he mentioned ex-Padres GM , who has been fighting cancer.

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“You don’t play this game thinking you’re going to be part of a 1 percent,” he said. “The numbers are mind-boggling. You ultimately have to put your head down, believe in what the work’s going to take, believe in that process and continue to refine your craft, no matter what it is. Having started as an and to ultimately make it to the mound and get an opportunity to do it for a while isn’t a normal progression that you get at this point in your life. But I had great examples in my two bigger brothers, my parents, a wonderful woman that I’ve been able to share three great children with.”

“Hells Bells,” the track that accompanied Hoffman’s jogs from the , played throughout the ballpark and other parts of the city Wednesday. From up close and afar, his supporters beamed with pride.

“San Diego is his city and his town,” said. “The people here love him, and in all the years before that, he’s built that relationship to where they can celebrate, too.”

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Trevor Hoffman: Career timeline, stats, numbers & 'Hells Bells'

Jay Posner

A look at the life and career of Padres legend Trevor Hoffman, who on Wednesday was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame:

Born: Oct. 13, 1967, in Bellflower

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

High school: Savanna High, Anaheim

College: ;

Drafted: 11th round, 1989, by Cincinnati (received $3,000 bonus)

Family: Wife Tracy and three sons (Quinn, Wyatt, Brody)

Career timeline

April 6, 1993: Makes MLB debut for Florida.

April 29, 1993: Gets first major league save, against Atlanta.

June 24, 1993: Traded from Florida to San Diego along with two minor-league pitchers in exchange for and Rich Rodriguez.

June 25, 1993: In his first inning for the Padres, allows three runs and is booed by home fans.

Aug. 6, 1993: Earns his first save as a Padre, against Colorado.

Sept. 29, 1996: Completes his first 40-save season by getting No. 42 as Padres clinch first NL West title in 12 years with win over Dodgers.

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April 13, 1997: Gets career save No. 100 in win over Phillies.

Sept. 27, 1998: Finishes season with 53 saves, a career high.

June 10, 1999: Strikes out the side against Oakland to earn his 200th save.

Aug. 15, 2001: Works a perfect ninth against the Mets to earn his 300th save.

May 6, 2005:Becomes third pitcher in major league history to earn 400 saves.

Sept. 24, 2006: Gets career save No. 479, breaking ’s major league record.

April 28, 2007: Appears in game No. 803 for Padres, breaking all-time record for most for one team.

June 6, 2007: Records career save No. 500 in win vs. Dodgers.

Sept. 27, 2008: In his final game as a Padres, gets his 554th career save (552 as a Padre).

Jan. 8, 2009: After more than 15 seasons with Padres, signs with .

Sept. 29, 2010: In his final game in major leagues, gets career save No. 601.

Aug. 21, 2011: Padres retire Hoffman’s No. 51 in pregame ceremony.

April 9, 2014: National League reliever award is named after Hoffman.

Jan. 24, 2018: Hoffman voted into Hall of Fame in third year of eligibility.

By the numbers

2 Times leading league in saves (1998, 2006)

2 Times finishing second in voting (1998, 2006)

2 Times he had streaks of four seasons with at least 40 saves, the only pitcher to do that

4 Career hits (2 doubles, 2 singles in 34 at-bats)

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5 Career RBIs

6.99 Hits allowed per nine innings, lowest all-time among relievers

7 All-Star Game appearances

9 Seasons with at least 40 saves, tied for highest all-time (Mariano Rivera)

9.36 Strikeouts per nine innings, highest all-time among relievers (11th for all pitchers)

18 Seasons in MLB, including 15½ with Padres (1993-2008)

51 Jersey number, retired by Padres in 2011

53 Saves in 1998, a franchise record and tied for fifth-highest of all time.

88.8 Percent of career save opportunities converted (601 of 677)

552 Saves for Padres

601 Career saves, second all-time (Mariano Rivera, 652)

856 Games finished, second all-time (Rivera, 952)

902 Games with Padres

1,035 Career games, 11th all-time among pitchers

1.058 Walks/hits per inning pitched, second-best all-time for relievers (ninth for all pitchers)

“Hells Bells”

In 1998, an employee in the Padres’ corporate development department was listening to his car radio and heard the AC/DC song, “Hells Bells.” He had an idea: What if the team played the song when Trevor Hoffman ran in from the bullpen to save a game?

According to a 2004 U-T story, after he made the suggestion for the fourth or fifth time, his idea was implemented.

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Said Hoffman: “They came to me and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a song that we think might be kinda cool. It has bells and a guitar.’ At the time I wasn’t partial to any particular song. It was ’98 and we were playing so well. It was magical.”

Moving to Petco Park in 2004 turned “Trevor Time” into even more of a visual show, but as Hoffman told the U-T’s Anthony Tarantino that year: “I have no idea what goes on behind me. I pretty much come running in with my hat down low ready to concentrate on the first batter.”

Hoffman met AC/DC in 1999 and presented band members with Padres jerseys with No. 51 on the back and “AC/DC” stitched across the shoulders.

Wrote the U-T’s Bill Center in 2006:

“It was great, although I don’t know if they completely understood,” Hoffman said. “They’re on another level. I don’t know if they were aware of what we were doing.”

Erik Meyer, the Padres’ director of entertainment and production, said the band is aware.

“We’ve been in contact and AC/DC knows what is going on,” Meyer said. “I can’t really say much more than that right now.”

The Padres do not pay royalties directly to AC/DC for the rights to play “Hells Bells.” The song is part of a package available through a marketing program that includes baseball among other sport entities.

“We pay a fee each year that covers all the music played at Petco Park,” Meyer said. “And while Trevor and the Padres might have been among the first to embrace ‘Hells Bells,’ the gong is heard at a lot of venues these days.”

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Trevor Hoffman built chemistry off field, defeated it from mound

Tom Krasovic

Newly elected Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman was the rare baseball star who was also a “glue” man behind the scenes, a pitching artist who was front and center for the “Hells Bells” show yet also a kindly big brother to the bullpen , the team trainer, the video coordinator, the media relations man and other grunts who traveled with the Padres for his lengthy career.

Hoffman was a fringe and somewhat old prospect when he joined , signing for $3,000 with the . And, he seemed never to forget his humble start.

Likewise, he grew up under a father who was a former Marine, a diligent mother who was a ballerina, and with two low-frills brothers who once chided him so sternly for telling of his Little League feats before that of his team’s that he never did so again.

On the baseball mound, Hoffman was a coldly efficient closer for Pads teams that won four titles and a league pennant.

He intimidated through excellence. Defeated often before they stepped to the plate, hitters got the duels over with in a hurry because Hoffman almost always threw first-pitch strikes and if the reached two strikes, his mysterious change-up was apt to produce a flailing, humiliating miss.

Everywhere in the baseball arena, he worked hard to build accountability and camaraderie within a Pads franchise that, unable to produce much talent of its own, had collected big leaguers and wannabes from other franchises and farm systems.

The Pads were in a hurry to win. They wanted public support for a new ballpark. Hoffman responded. He got the final three saves to close out the disliked Dodgers in 1996, providing San Diego its first playoff berth in 12 years. In 1998, when the trip to the World Serieshelped secure ballpark funding, he was even better.

His routines were reliable, too. When he got the final three outs to secure victory, reporters often had to seek him out afterward. He wanted the bulk of the credit to go to his teammates.

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He was front and center on the rare occasion he blew a save, never dodging the ink-stained hounds. The message was clear to teammates. Check your ego. Take responsibility, in private and public.

Hoffman was as disciplined as a Zen master while preparing for baseball, yet like many relief aces he owned a freak flag. And, he would fly it on occasion.

He never bared his body and gleefully plopped himself onto a giant birthday cake, as the closer was known to do.

But, intent on keeping teammates upbeat and loose, Hoffman would perform a dance routine inside the team’s clubhouse that never failed to elicit laughter.

Pulsating tech music would boom, lights flickering, and Hoffman would bound around the room, kangarooing, leveraging himself on and off the shoulders of anyone standing nearby.

Capping the routine, he was known to theatrically ascend a pole that connected to the ceiling at the old clubhouse at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Striking more low-key notes, he routinely opened up his hotel suite to teammates for baseball bull sessions. Before games, he and fellow relievers flipped Frisbees and footballs in the outfield, ensuring they got their running done.

Hoffman believed “team chemistry” mattered.

What he achieved on the mound was rather astounding when baseball’s chemistry of a different sort is considered.

His era was an unprecedented freak show for the 450-foot home .

Juiced-up ballplayers launched tightly wound out of tiny strike zones.

Yet Hoffman thrived.

In crazy 1998, when bulked-up sluggers were making ballparks look like thimbles, his 1.48 ERA with 53 saves and only two home runs allowed was one of the robust — and authentic — feats of the Steroid Era, as those times came to be known when the applause receded.

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Of course pitchers used steroids, too, conceivably raising the specter, one supposes, that Hoffman may have been a baseball cheat as well as a vanquisher of cheats.

But it’s hard to fathom Hoffman indulging such a health risk, for he has only one kidney. Growing up, his parents forbade him protein drinks, reasoning that he should ask less of the only kidney he had.

Trevor Time was good to San Diego, and the Cardiff resident’s election into the Hall and the coming ceremony in Cooperstown are timely for a region that lost its longtime NFL tenant last year.

Yet it’s also true that San Diego was good to Hoffman.

Manager has Hoffman’s lasting gratitude for “not getting too greedy” with him early in seasons, and for maintaining a clear line of communication.

San Diego’s coastal air is a boon to late-night pitching and especially the closer, who pitches last.

The Pads’ home venue in Mission Valley was hospitable to pitchers, and in the downtown ballpark where Hoffman pitched from 2004 through 2009, hard- balls that would’ve gone for home runs elsewhere were apt to die on the left-center warning track.

Back then, the Pads inflated Hoffman’s flagging fastball velocity on the radar-gun readings that appeared on their ballpark scoreboards.

Yet, he still figured out how to outwit hitters.

And although San Diego can claim Hoffman for itself, he provided Milwaukee with a season that stands as perhaps the foremost ode to his smarts and resilience.

Pitching for the Brewers, whose enclosed stadium favors hitters, the 41-year-old Hoffman fashioned a 1.83 ERA across a 37-save season in 2010.

That’s a feat worth dancing up a clubhouse pole.

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Trevor's time is also San Diego's time

Kevin Acee

Gong. Gonng. Gonnng. Gonnnng.

Any Padres fan who saw the gate in the outfield wall open and heard that sound four times and watched the man jog across the grass, well, we have goosebumps at this point.

The Hall’s bells have tolled for Trevor Hoffman.

On Wednesday, after what seemed like too long — if you will — it was finally Trevor Time.

Shortly after 3:15 p.m. local time, the former Padres reliever and still-Padres adviser/instructor and always San Diegan was announced as a part of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.

After missing by less than eight percentage points in his first year of eligibility and falling just five votes shy last year, the man with 601 saves, second-most ever, got the call.

Hoffman will be just the sixth Hall of Famer to have worked primarily as a reliever during his career. He joins Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Rich Gossage, Bruce Sutter and Hoyt Wilhelm.

There has been a lot of ink spilled on the topic of Hoffman’s candidacy. We’re lucky (or not lucky) space on the Internet is limitless, or all the bytes dissecting Hoffman’s WAR and WPA and JAWS might’ve shut down the government. (And how preposterous would that be?)

We can thankfully now stop talking about whether Hoffman belongs alongside the others.

He’s there.

Or will be. On the final Sunday in July in bucolic upstate New York, Hoffman will be enshrined as part of a sizable and distinguished class. His plaque will be in the Cooperstown museum with a mere 322 others. Cy Young and all the rest will welcome Hoffy to bronze-cast immortality. 13

“To think you’re going to share a room with the likes of and ,” Hoffman said at a Petco Park news conference. “… It’s a very humbling experience to think of yourself going into that realm.”

Humbled even more now that he has one more reason to not be, Hoffman said being considered among the top one percent of all players to ever play in the majors is “certainly something I don’t think I deserve.”

The wait wasn’t really that long.

Looking to his right at his wife, mother and two of his three sons seated next to him Wednesday, Hoffman smiled and said, “800 days doesn’t seem like that big a deal.”

It sure felt like an injustice to those of us so indebted and and in awe for what he did.

Hoffman deserved it.

San Diego needed it.

We don’t have a lot of high-profile sports accomplishments (or even high-profile sports) to celebrate around here.

“To have something personally be able to give joy to the city, knowing I’ve been backed by so many, so well for so long, there is a lot of pride there,” Hoffman said. “… I think people are going to be able to stick their chest out a little bit and say, ‘He’s one of ours, and we’re proud of him.’ ”

Hoffman joins natives and Alan Trammell and adopted son Tony Gwynn as enshrinees. (A special shoutout to Dave Winfield, who went into the Hall as a Padre.)

Trevor William Hoffman was born in Bellflower.

But, oh, Hoffy is a San Diego kind of Hall of Famer as sure as he is a San Diegan.

And not just for the chiseled 6-foot, 215-pound frame and sandy wave of hair. And not just because he, essentially, was forced to develop that wipeout change-up after injuring his shoulder playing volleyball on the beach in Del Mar in 1994.

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He made millions of dollars and earned the second-most saves ever against the odds.

You look at him now — even at 50 years old — and forget that a kid who failed as a minor- league shortstop is the man we’re talking about whose nine 40-save seasons are tied with Mariano Rivera as most ever.

Yeah, Hoffman was drafted as a shortstop, became a pitcher out of necessity and couldn’t throw his too-straight fastball hard enough for long enough once that happened.

So he learned a change-up that belied the role he filled. He wasn’t a flamethrower. He was an extinguisher.

He was a badass who brought a B.B. gun to a bazooka fight. His signature pitch might have officially been called a change-up, but it was really a conundrum.

It didn’t so much fall off the table as give in and duck for cover.

But man, especially when he was on, those hundreds and hundreds of times he had it working, the big leagues’ best batters were baffled.

“It’s like it has a parachute on it,” Dodgers catcher told in 2002.

Oh, and Hoffman has one kidney. The right one has been solo since Hoffman was an infant and the left one wasn’t working. When he played shortstop at Arizona, he had to indemnify the university against liability in the event he was hit by a ball.

He batted .212 in one season in -A in the Reds organization, was converted to a pitcher in 1991 and drafted by the Marlins in the expansion draft before the 1993 season.

He was traded to the Padres in June 1993, part of the return for Gary Sheffield.

Hoffman became the Padres closer in ’94. By the summer of 1998, he was entering games to “Hells Bells.” He took over as the franchise’s face following Gwynn’s retirement at the end of 2001. He is a San Diego icon forever.

And now a Hall of Famer.

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Hoffman's Hall call included plenty of chest-puffing Padres on the line

Bryce Miller

Greg Vaughn flipped through the text chain on his cell phone, rattling off name after name from the Padres 1998 team who cheered on Trevor Hoffman this week with a warm, electronic hug.

Vaughn scrolled and scrolled, then scrolled some more.

“Let me see,” Vaughn said. “There’s Wally, Finley, Joey. There’s Boch. Sweeney. What’s that?”

The count continued, stopping at 22. That was the unique relationship rooted in 1998, when Vaughn hammered 50 home runs and Wally Joyner hit .298 and logged 1,3351/3 innings in center.

In a sport framed by the constant churn of trades, with new cities and new teammates, this group stayed connected and continued to care. That was the bond.

The glue? That was Trevor Hoffman.

“To be honest, waiting to find out was like the last day of when they tell you who’s going to make the 25(-man roster),” said 1998 catcher Carlos Hernandez, who learned Hoffman had been elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday while driving north on I-15.

“I had a Coca-Cola and I dumped it on my seat. I was glad it wasn’t hot coffee.”

Hernandez owned the best seat in the park to watch Hoffman’s baffling change-up twist hitters into exasperated knots.

That season, Hoffman piled up a career-high 53 saves on the way to a then-baseball-best 601. The former shortstop who started his pitching reinvention with a mid-90s fastball had to reinvent himself again when shoulder surgery battered his velocity.

No matter. Hoffman just became a better pitcher, a person in the two-name conversation about the best ever, challenged only by Mariano Rivera.

That’s why the razor-thin miss in 2017, 1 percent short by five votes total, created a disappointing wait — for Hoffman and all those guys thumbing encouragement to him on Vaughn’s cell phone. 16

“I don’t know if you ever really get beyond the ‘wait’ game,” Hoffman said Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park. “You hope the phone call will come, but you never put yourself in a position to the point of assuming it’s going to happen.

“… The disappointment last year is last year. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Ditto, Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

“It’s overdue,” Bochy, the former Padres dugout boss, told the Union-Tribune. “Basically, when you heard ‘Hell’s Bells,’ it was game over.”

When a beach volleyball injury sideline Hoffman for almost all of 2003, the Padres won 64 games. The next four seasons, when Hoffman averaged 43 saves, the team won at an 86.5-game clip.

“I saw what life was like without Trevor in 2003,” Bochy said, “and it wasn’t fun.”

In a 2004 interview with the U-T, Hoffman illustrated how much he had to work and evolve and change to lead the Padres clubhouse after his injury.

“A closer is supposed to be big guy foaming at the mouth and throwing, what, 110 mph?” Hoffman said then. “That’s what I thought I would have to be.”

Then, he became something else. Something more. Something special.

Something Hall-worthy.

The fact that a person who didn’t play every day became the north star for a clubhouse that included another Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn, spoke more about his impact than real words.

“I think he wanted to step up and be that guy,” said former teammate , who glowed as he watched Hoffman address the media Wednesday. “Nothing against Tony, but Tony wanted to go out and play and be the pro he always was on an everyday basis.

“Trevor knew he had to lead.”

Hoffman didn’t simply transform a group of players athletically. He changed them musically.

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Guys with all types of backgrounds found common ground with a certain AC/DC song. Sweeney said he still cranks it up when he hears it on his car radio.

“As soon as you heard that, everything changed,” he said. “When you heard that one bell, it’s like ‘Here it comes.’”

Vaughn said the raging guitars connected the group in its collective work.

“When you heard Hell’s Bells, it was game over — it was a wrap,” he said. “The guy was the ultimate teammate, too. He was out there working, every day. He was out there cheering on the guys. A lot of closers are on a schedule, but he was out there at the first pitch.

“You’ve got a superstar, but in a time when a lot of people care about the name on the back of a jersey, he cared about the name on the front.”

That haunting first bell stirs Bochy, still.

“I think that was one of the more genius marketing things ever in baseball,” he said. “When you heard it, it was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ It was unbelievable how it caught on. It’s just a great song for a closer. It brings back so many great memories for me.

“It’s a song that never got old, trust me.”

Scrolling through his phone this week transported Vaughn back.

“You’d see guys coming up, they had no chance,” he said. “He was Picasso. He dissected you. He broke you down, pitch by pitch.”

Hoffman shared his Hall selection with a city. He shared it with a bunch of guys with phones at the ready, too.

The reception? Loud and undeniably clear.

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Padres roster review: Christian Villanueva

Jeff Sanders

Sizing up the Padres’ 40-man roster, from A to Z, heading into the 2018 season.

CHRISTIAN VILLANUEVA

• Position: • 2018 age: 26 • Bats/throws: R/R • Height/weight: 5-foot-11 / 210 pounds • Acquired: Signed a minor league deal in December 2016 • Contract status: Will not be arbitration-eligible until after the 2020 season at the earliest • Key stats: .344 avg., .344 OBP, .750 SLG, 4 HRs, 7 RBIs, 5 runs, 0 steals, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts (12 games, 32 plate appearances)

STAT TO NOTE

• .896 – Villanueva’s OPS in 109 games at -A El Paso, a career-high. He also penned his second 20-homer campaign of his minor league career ahead of his first big league call-up in September 2017.

TRENDING

• Up – Villanueva’s path to the majors was littered with all sorts of speed bumps, from an injury shortly after signing with the Rangers in 2009, to being buried behind in the Cubs system, to a fractured fibula costing him all of 2016. The Guadalajara, Mexico, native signed a minor league deal with San Diego for the 2017 season, but even that got off to a rocky start. His brother died while Villanueva was in his first camp with the Padres and a shoulder injury after that delayed his start for a month. He never stopped hitting after that, earning PCL player of the week honors in May and July and fashioning a 1.076 OPS in 27 games in June. The minor league

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season ended with his second 20-homer campaign and a last hurrah in the majors, where Villanueva homered in his third career game. He added a second the next night and finished his audition with four blasts in his first 12 games in the majors.

2018 OUTLOOK

• Villanueva was added to the 40-man roster in September and will battle for a big league job in camp this spring, his second with the Padres. His road back to the majors, however, comes with yet another obstacle even with Yangervis Solarteshipped out of town. The Padres reacquired in December, making him the front-runner for starts at third base so long as he remains on the roster. Cory Spangenberg’s experience also puts him ahead of Villanueva on the depth chart.

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Padres' social media accounts were hacked; no imminent agreement with Eric Hosmer

Dennis Lin

Shortly after midnight Thursday, the Padres’ social media accounts appeared to suggest a thaw in a historically sluggish free-agent market.

The team’s Instagram account posted a photo, sans caption, of Eric Hosmer in action with the , the Padres’ primary competition for the first-base target.

Within minutes of the post’s existence, it was deleted.

Soon, the team’s account stirred at a similarly odd hour. The first post told followers to “Stay tuned,” followed by an emoji depicting bulging eyes. A second message directly mentioned Hosmer by his own handle, but did not elaborate.

Those, too, were deleted, though that did not quiet speculation. Screenshots preserved the posts for posterity.

What to make of the Padres’ late-night broadcasts?

Apparently, it was not their own doing.

Team officials Thursday morning said both accounts were hacked. Sources also confirmed that the club does not have an imminent agreement with Hosmer.

“The Padres social media accounts were inappropriately accessed last night, and messages that were inaccurate and unauthorized were posted,” the Padres said in a statement. “MLB Cybersecurity is now investigating the matter, and we apologize for any confusion.”

For now, a slow offseason lurches on.

In reality, the Padres have been as active as most teams since the World Series. But, like many others, they have not spent much on the open market.

Trades that brought Freddy Galvis, Chase Headley and Bryan Mitchell qualify as noteworthy moves. The team signed relievers Craig Stammen and Kazuhisa Makita to affordable deals. 21

It has been weeks since the Padres offered a seven-year, nine-figure contract to Hosmer, but agent Scott Boras likely will continue to wait, and hope, for a sweeter proposal. The Royals, Hosmer’s incumbent club, also seem to have made an offer.

The Padres continue to seek a veteran backup for Galvis at shortstop. Ironically, Ryan Goins may have been an option; the former Toronto infielder on Wednesday signed a minor league deal with Kansas City, and will attempt to win an opening-day job with the Royals.

Where Hosmer will be on March 29 remains to be seen. To date, other public suitors have not emerged.

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Hall's bells: Cooperstown rings for Hoffman

Longtime closer receives 79.9 percent of votes in 3rd year on ballot

AJ Cassavell

SAN DIEGO -- In his remarkable 18-year career as one of the best relief pitchers in baseball history, Trevor Hoffman racked up 601 saves. He slammed the door on yet another milestone Wednesday: a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hoffman's third year on the ballot proved a charm. He appeared on 79.9 percent of the b cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America -- a 5.9 percent boost from last year's results and well above the 75 percent threshold required for election.

Along with Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Vladimir Guerrero -- who were also elected on Wednesday -- Hoffman will be feted during a July 29 induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., that also will include Modern Baseball Era Committee electees Jack Morris and Alan Trammell.

"It's hard to describe the emotions that flood you right away," Hoffman said. "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 learned of the news in a phone call Wednesday afternoon, prior to the official announcement. He celebrated briefly with his family at his Del Mar home, before heading to Petco Park for a news conference. On Thursday, Hoffman will head to New York to meet with media at 3 p.m. ET. It will air live on MLB Network and MLB.com.

"It was awesome to have family around," Hoffman said. "… We made it a little bit bigger today, with all the family and extended family. We were maybe hedging our bets a little bit. But the disappointment last year is last year. I couldn't be more excited, humbled by the process.an. 24th, 2018

Hoffman will presumably become the third player to don a Padres cap on his Hall of Fame plaque, joining Dave Winfield and former teammate Tony Gwynn. Hoffman paused during his news conference Wednesday to note, of the late Gwynn, "I wish he was here to share this moment."

Drafted by the Reds as a shortstop from the University of Arizona in 1989, Hoffman made his career-altering move to the mound two years later. "Career survival," Hoffman called it, after

23 he batted .227 with 55 errors in two pro seasons as an infielder. He broke into the Majors with the Marlins in 1993, but he was traded to the Padres midway through his first season.

"What he became really changed the organization and the future of the franchise," said former Padres executive Randy Smith, who sent Gary Sheffield to the Marlins for Hoffman and two other prospects. "He's a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word."

Hoffman spent 16 years with San Diego, before he headed to Milwaukee in 2009 to finish his career.

And what a career it was.an. 24th, 2018

In 2006, Hoffman surpassed Lee Smith for 's all-time saves record. He would later become the first pitcher in history to reach the 500- and 600-save milestones. Hoffman's 601 saves are second only to Mariano Rivera, a surefire Hall of Famer himself and the only pitcher to have since joined Hoffman in those exclusive clubs.

Among relievers with at least 1,000 innings, Hoffman ranks second in save percentage (88.8), eighth in ERA (2.87), fourth in ERA+ (141), second in opponents' average (.211), second in WHIP (1.06) and first in rate (25.8).

Hoffman clearly relished the role of pitching in the ninth inning of close games, and the fans in San Diego adored him for it. AC/DC's "Hells Bells" played every time he entered a home game in San Diego, and it quickly became an anthem for Padres fans. (Fittingly, Hoffman entered his news conference Wednesday with "Hells Bells" playing in the background.)

"I couldn't have imagined being in a different role," Hoffman said. "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."

Hoffman's brother Glenn serves as the Padres' third-base coach and spent nine seasons as a big league infielder. He was on hand for Wednesday's celebration (and even prank-dialed his brother twice to ease some of the tension in the room, while the family waited for the phone call).Jan. 24th, 2018

If anyone understands Trevor's relationship with San Diego, it's Glenn, who was quick to note that Wednesday's announcement was a victory for the city, too.

"San Diego is his city and his town," Glenn Hoffman said. "The people here love him. … And he's built that relationship to where they can celebrate, too. They can go to New York, and they've got something to celebrate."

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Indeed, Trevor Hoffman is perhaps as revered as any living San Diego sports figure and has already been enshrined in the Padres Hall of Fame and the city's sports Hall of Fame. Come July, he'll add another Hall to the list when he receives baseball's highest honor.

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Hoffman tips cap to Gwynn after Hall election

AJ Cassavell

SAN DIEGO -- At some point during his 18-year Hall of Fame career, legendary Padres closer Trevor Hoffman must have realized he was charting a course for Cooperstown.

When, exactly, did that notion creep into his mind? Well, Hoffman had the luxury of sharing a clubhouse for nine seasons with another Hall of Famer, the late Tony Gwynn. And when Cooperstown chatter began to engulf Gwynn, Hoffman says he realized he might be on the verge of something special as well.

Gwynn, a 2007 inductee, and Hoffman are two of the most beloved Padres of all time. Come July, they'll share a place in baseball's most storied ground. After Hoffman was elected to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday, he was quick to tip his cap to Gwynn, a former teammate who lost his battle with cancer in 2014.

"Standing here, I think of some of the things Tony was thinking about when he was here, being inducted and getting a chance to talk about it," Hoffman said. "I wish he was here today to share this moment."

Gwynn and Hoffman took different routes to Cooperstown. Gwynn, one of the best hitters in the history of the sport, cruised to induction in his first try. Hoffman, one of the best closers in the history of the sport, was elected on the third try.

But their careers will forever be linked, given their impact on the Padres and the city of San Diego. At his election news conference Wednesday, Hoffman was asked when he began to ponder the Hall as a possibility for himself.an. 24th, 2018

"Really, when things started heating up with Tony, with his career starting to wind down, and the numbers he was putting together," Hoffman said. "Seeing him handle that scrutiny and that microscope he was under and, really, what it took for him at that level.

"And then ultimately I realized that I had built up some time in my role. I'm not sure what that particular [Hall of Fame] ticket was going to look like. I think I let myself dream then, a little bit, thinking maybe something down the road might come your way. But if you start looking down the road, that's when this game will trip you up. It'll humble you really fast. It was for a brief minute, and then it was back to going to stadiums, getting ready for another night's work."

Hoffman built himself a rather impressive resume, racking up 601 saves, a 2.87 ERA and a 25.8 percent strikeout rate throughout his career., 2018

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Of course, the majority of that career was spent with the Padres -- 16 seasons, to be precise. Gwynn played no small part in Hoffman's decision to remain in San Diego for so long.

"I remember sitting with Tony in the early '90s," Hoffman told MLB.com. "I remember him talking with us about having the opportunity to sign long-term in San Diego, making this our home. He said, 'It's hard to describe, but you won't be disappointed.'

"I took that really to heart. A guy that has been through it, was in the middle of a 20-year career here in this city, to hear him speak on behalf of how great the community is, how much they appreciate you when you work hard. It's been nothing but that. I walk around town, and people couldn't be more complimentary, more supportive."

Come July 29, San Diego fans will bring that support across the country to Hoffman's induction ceremony. Gwynn's presence will undoubtedly be felt that day.

"I've always put Tony at a pretty high level," Hoffman said. "To ultimately have shared a locker room with him and then be going to a pretty special place [in Cooperstown] will be a tremendous honor."

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Track the new Hall of Famers' careers from their first team to Cooperstown

Andrew Mearns On Wednesday, the members of the 2018 National Baseball Hall of Fame class were revealed to the public. The names included Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman. So, let's take a stroll down memory lane and remember the twists and turns across the country that they've taken throughout their careers on their way to plaques in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Chipper Jones

The dream of every player lucky enough to be drafted first overall is to go on to a Hall of Fame career, lead his team to a World Series title and maybe win an MVP along the way. However, no No. 1 pick in baseball history has ever managed to pull that trick, let alone entirely with one team. Well, had ever. He was the Braves' top choice in the 1990 MLB Draft out of The Boiles School in Jacksonville, Fla., and he never played a game anywhere else during his tremendous 19-year career. World Series ring? Check. MVP? Check. First-ballot Hall of Famer? Check.

Jim Thome

Like Jones, Jim Thome had a legendary career with the team that drafted him, and the Indians revere the slugger so much that he already has a statue outside in Cleveland. Unlike Jones, Thome's career brought him to teams all around the country, beginning in 2003 with the Phillies. He even made a brief stop back in Cleveland in 2011 after stints with the White Sox, Dodgers and Twins. After another reunion in Philadelphia, Thome's career came to a close with one last playoff run in Baltimore with the Orioles. Have dingers, will travel.

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Vladimir Guerrero

Long before becoming the proud papa to one of baseball's best prospects, "Vlad the Impaler" was the Expos' last true superstar prior to their move to Washington, D.C. The fame he earned in Montreal for his otherworldly hitting led to him earning a nice free agent contract with the Angels in 2004. Guerrero won the MVP in his first year there and made three more All-Star teams before departing for the division rival Rangers in 2010. Not only did he make the lone World Series appearance of his career there, but he also earned his ninth and final All-Star spot, too. After one more season of play with the Orioles, Guerrero's career ended, bringing a wild ride to its conclusion.

All that's left is one more stop in Cooperstown.

Trevor Hoffman

Longtime closer Trevor Hoffman's career had humble beginnings. Few will remember that the Reds drafted him as an infielder way back in 1989, and that he made his MLB debut with the Marlins in 1993 after they took him in the Expansion Draft. The Padres acquired Hoffman on June 24, 1993, and the rest is history. His became synonymous with the end of Padres victories for the next 16 seasons. He spent the last two years with the Brewers, where he became the first closer to ever reach 600 saves.

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Hoffman calm, collected upon getting 'the call'

HOF electee surrounded by family at beach house when he heard news

Barry M. Bloom

DEL MAR, Calif. -- It was a great day for a family party at Trevor Hoffman's beach house on the shore of the mighty Pacific Ocean. Temperature in late January: 72 degrees. The common refrain: That's why we live here.

At 2:22 p.m. PT, Hoffman took the call he and the crowd were waiting for. It was Jack O'Connell from the Baseball Writers' Association of America and Jane Forbes Clark from the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the other end.

He answered the call as if he was facing with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning -- with intensity and stony coldness. There were no tears on this day. Just raw emotions.

"I was just trying to keep it together," Hoffman later said. "Enjoy the moment."

Hoffman was told he is headed to the Hall of Fame, on the third try. He missed by just five votes last year, and this time he had 20 to spare. His name needed to be on 75 percent, or 317, of the 422 ballots cast by eligible members of the BBWAA. He received 337 votes, or 79.9 percent.an. 24th, 2018

"It's really very difficult to wrap your mind around something like this in such a short period of time," Hoffman told his friends and family moments later as they toasted him with glasses filled with champagne. "You get to certain places, and it's never alone. To be surrounded by so many loved ones and special people in my life who were part of the beginning of the journey and here toward the end is really special.

"We're going to have a lot of fun celebrating in the future. It doesn't go unnoticed that your support was everything one needs when things didn't go well and when things were super. Thanks for being a part of this. Thanks for sharing your day. I love each and every one of you."an. 24th, 2018

And now the whirlwind begins. Hoffman, the National League's all-time saves leader (601), will be inducted into the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 29. He'll join fellow electees Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Jim Thome, plus Jack Morris and Alan Trammell. The latter pair was elected last month by the Modern Era Committee.

Trammell, the former Tigers shortstop, is a San Diego native and played ball at Kearny High School in Serra Mesa. Hoffman played 16 of his 18 seasons for the Padres. The two talked about the possibility of this happening on the day Trammell was elected.

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Thus, the upcoming induction will have a San Diego flavor. Hoffman grew up 90 miles away in Anaheim and his mother, Mikki, brothers Greg and Glenn and their families drove down for the festivities.

Glenn preceded his younger brother in the Majors as a shortstop with the Red Sox. He has been a Padres coach since 2005. Trevor left for Milwaukee as a free agent in 2008 and finished his career with the Brewers in 2010.

Among the small group celebrating Wednesday were and , both teammates of Hoffman in San Diego.

Trevor's wife, Tracy, fittingly wore a black and grey AC/DC T-shirt with the words "Hells Bells" plastered across the front, the name of the song that played each time Hoffman jogged in from the bullpen to pitch the top of the ninth inning for the Padres.n. 24th, 2018

Hoffman pitched a combined 392 times in what was then called Qualcomm Stadium and Petco Park, and the chime of a bell is still used to usher in games at Petco.

Two of Hoffman's three sons were there, Brody and Wyatt. The third, Quinn, is in school at Harvard and watched the much-awaited phone call via FaceTime. The boys were fixtures around the Padres during Trevor's time there.

There was merriment and laughter, but Hoffman professed to be a tad nervous.

As 2 p.m. PT rolled around, the group was told the Hall call was scheduled to come anytime within a half-hour period from 2:15 to 2:45, but only if Hoffman was elected. If he wasn't, no call.

Hoffman sat with his wife and kids around him at the far end of a wooden table, the specter of aqua Pacific waves in the background. His cellphone was on the table in front of him.

Almost on cue, the phone rang, just a bit before 2:15. There was an immediate hush. The name Glenn Hoffman appeared on the screen.

"It's Glenn," Hoffman bellowed as everyone broke down in raucous laughter.

"I just wanted to make sure your phone was working," Glenn deadpanned.

Once again in their long lifetime together, the older brother had punked the younger one.

"The timing couldn't have been more perfect," Glenn said.an. 24th, 2018

But when the clock struck 2:15, it was time to get serious. The minutes began to ebb. The jovial mood turned tense.

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"This is going to be a long 30 minutes," Trevor said.

Almost at that moment, the cellphone rang. The callers were placed on speaker phone.

"May I speak to Trevor Hoffman, please," said O'Connell, the longtime secretary/treasurer of the BBWAA, who has the pleasure of making these calls.

"This is," said Hoffman, almost solemnly.

"I got your phone number [at the Winter Meetings] in Orlando, and I'm letting you know that the baseball writers have elected you to the Hall of Fame," O'Connell said.

Hoffman took a split-second to respond, as if he were checking the sign one more time with his catcher -- perhaps Ausmus -- before throwing the game's most important pitch. He didn't blink an eye.

"I appreciate that, Jack. It was awesome seeing you in Orlando, and I'm glad we were able to make it happen today," Hoffman finally said.

"I wish you had made it last year, but you made it in swimmingly this year," O'Connell said. "I'm happy that you made it. Sometimes it takes a little longer than it should, but you're where you belong right now, my friend."

With that, the group erupted into cheers and applause. Not a man or woman or child in the Hoffman beach house on Wednesday disagreed with O'Connell.

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Trevor Hoffman goes from heartbreak to triumph with Hall of Fame election

Mark Townsend

For Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Vladimir Guerrero, Wednesday’s Hall of Fame announcement was a mere formality. Thanks to Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame Tracker,we’d seen the votes pour in for them over the last few weeks. In the end, all three surpassed the 75 percent needed for induction into the Hall of Fame by a comfortable margin.

For longtime closer Trevor Hoffman, the wait was far more anxious. After falling just five votes short of election in 2017, the National League’s all-time saves leader again found himself in a precarious position. With nearly half the 422 ballots still unaccounted for, Hoffman entered Wednesday knowing that his fate could come down to a handful of votes again.

Then the phone rang, and all the frustration that was felt last year and the anxiety that had undoubtedly built up since, went away. This year, Hoffman was named on 79.8 percent of the ballots cast. This year, his heartbreak turned to triumph.

The raw emotions that come through on those Hall of Fame phone calls is something we never tire of seeing or hearing. They have an especially strong impact in situations like Hoffman’s, when that call from Hall of Fame representative provides the first confirmation that a player’s dream has come true.

Hoffman says the call caught him off guard. After last year’s disappointment, he didn’t know what this year would bring. With that in mind, he held it together pretty well. Still, his face wore all of the emotions that can only be held back for so long. At the same time, his family’s screams served as a collective sigh of relief and exclamation of pure joy now that he’d received baseball’s highest honor.

Those same screams were undoubtedly heard all throughout San Diego. Hoffman will become only the second Padres player to have a plaque in Cooperstown, along with the great Tony Gwynn. Many believe his induction is long overdue, but in some ways that might actually be fitting for a man who’s path to success in baseball wasn’t always smooth. For Hoffman to make it in baseball, it required a willingness to reinvent on his part. Just as important, it required the support, patience and wisdom of those who believed in him most.

Most have probably forgotten that Hoffman started as an undersized shortstop prospect who had to put on weight before teams would give him a second look. When the Reds finally did, his former minor league manager Jim Lett and pitching coach Mike Griffin eventually pushed him towards the pitcher’s mound.

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They knew something Hoffman didn’t. At least not yet. But over the next 20 years he found it, constantly worked at it, and ultimately mastered it. In the process, he became one of the game’s most dominant and decorated relief pitchers, finishing his career with 601 saves.

Hoffman will be remembered most for his changeup, which kept hitters off balance even when they knew it was coming, and for his dramatic “Hell’s Bells” entrance before the ninth inning of games in San Diego. But his perseverance is every bit as impressive. Hoffman could have easily become one of the countless prospects who have faded into obscurity. Instead, he changed his course and made it impossible to be denied.

Like those who scouted him and even Hoffman himself, it took the Hall of Fame voters awhile to realize there was a place for him. Now that they have, Hoffman will make the most dramatic entrance of his career knowing that his legacy of fooling hitters and refusing to be denied will carry on forever.

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Trevor Time! Hoffman will be next Padre inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Trevor Arroyo

SAN DIEGO -- Sports fans across San Diego can celebrate for the next six months as one of its own will be honored with one of baseball's highest honors.

On Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball announced that San Diego Padres pitcher Trevor Hoffman will be a part of the 2018Baseball Hall of Fame induction class. Hoffman received the official call from his home in San Diego surrounded by family and close friends.

Hoffman, who's a beloved figure in the San Diego community, fell just one point shy of the required 75 percent votes in 2016. On Wednesday, it was announced that Hoffman received enough votes to secure his place in baseball history.

Hall of Fame Weekend 2018 will be held the finalJuly 27-29 in Cooperstown, with the induction ceremony on Sunday, July 29.

Hoffman was a 7-time MLB All-Star selection and retired with 601 career saves, which was the MLB record at the time. In 2014, Major League Baseball named the NL Reliever of the Year Award after Trevor Hoffman, with the AL award named after Mariano Rivera.

Its Trevors Time!

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Well, Hells Bells, Trevor Hoffman makes it to Cooperstown

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Well, Hells Bells, look who made it into the Hall of Fame.

Trevor Hoffman, known for his high leg kick, menacing glare and wicked changeup, was voted into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday in his third year on the ballot.

Hoffman was baseball’s all-time saves leader with 601 when he retired in 2010, and later was passed by Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees.

His relatively short stay on the ballot wasn’t without some controversy. Some voters and fans disregard saves as a major stat, and point to Hoffman’s relative lack of success in the playoffs.

But Hoffman took the high road.

“This was my job title, this is what I was asked to do and I did it pretty well,” he said at an outdoor news conference at Petco Park.

Hoffman, converted from shortstop to pitcher in the low minors with the Cincinnati organization, received 79.9 percent of the vote after missing by just five votes last time.

“There’s really not much else you can do after you’re done playing,” Hoffman said. “You can chose to kind of battle a fight that’s not worth fighting. I was comfortable with the career I had, comfortable with the way I went about it and if enough people felt the same about it as I did, we’d be standing here today. And fortunately we were.”

Hoffman was with Alan Trammell earlier in December when the former star shortstop was voted into the Hall of Fame by the modern day committee after failing to get in on balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of San Diego.

“He showed such grace and humility through the process, so 800 days doesn’t seem that big a deal, does it, guys?” Hoffman said. “I’m certainly proud, certainly thankful.”

Hoffman was accompanied by his wife, Tracy; mother, Nikki; brother Glenn, a former big shortstop who’s entering his 13th season as Padres third base coach; and two of his three sons. Son Quinn, a sophomore infielder at Harvard, had already returned to school. Wyatt Hoffman is a freshman infielder at Pacific.

His father, Eddie, a former Marine and former professional singer who was known as the Singing Usher at Anaheim Stadium, died in 1995.

Hoffman earned his first two career saves with the Marlins as a rookie in 1993 and his final 47 saves with Milwaukee in 2009-10. 36

In between, he had 552 saves with the Padres, helping them win four NL West titles and reach just their second World Series.

Tracy Hoffman wore a black AC/DC “Hells Bells” T-shirt, a nod to the ominous song that began to play when Trevor jogged in from the bullpen. “Trevor Time” became an event in San Diego, when a save opportunity was on the line and batters knew they’d be facing Hoffman’s flummoxing changeup, which dropped toward the dirt and more often than not eluded their bats.

“It was one of those moments in the game that never, never got old, trust me,” said Bruce Bochy, who managed Hoffman in San Diego from 1995-2006 before becoming the ’ manager. “It’s always good to bring your closer in, but the `Hells Bells’ became part of it, just to see how it brought the crowd to life, the team. It energized the whole ballpark. It was electric.”

Hoffman earned his 479th save in the Padres’ final home game of 2006 to break Lee Smith’s career record. He became the first to record 500 saves, on June 6, 2007. After being allowed to leave as a free agent, he finished his career with the Brewers and became the first to 600 saves on Sept. 7, 2010.

Hoffman came to the Padres during their infamous of 1993, when the team dealt off all its stars except Tony Gwynn, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. Hoffman and two minor leaguers were acquired for slugger Gary Sheffield, who won the NL batting crown in 1992, and reliever Rich Rodriguez.

Then-general manager Randy Smith was roundly panned for saying at the time that he had to move quality players to bring in quality players. Hoffman was booed in his first several appearances with the Padres before eventually becoming one of the franchise’s most-beloved players.

“We hoped to get guy to pitch late in games and he certainly met those expectations and a lot more,” Smith said Wednesday. “Words can’t express it. He’s a deserving Hall of Famer in every sense: the work ethic, the personality, of course the performance. I thought he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but now that he’s in it doesn’t really matter. He’s in.”

Hoffman’s election was a boost to a city that badly needed one. The Padres are in a deep rebuilding mode and the NFL’s Chargers relocated to the area last season. Additionally, several stars have died in recent years, including Gwynn and former broadcaster and player in 2014, and Junior Seau in 2012. , the TV voice of the Padres for seven seasons, died in December.

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