Joe Christensen's Sunday Insider: Hoffman remains a thrifty saver

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Trevor Hoffman has converted 18 of 19 save opportunities for Milwaukee.

One of the game's most underrated players despite gaudy numbers, Trevor Hoffman is proving he's not done yet.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: July 4, 2009 - 11:21 PM

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MILWAUKEE — My first year covering the big leagues was 1998, the year the San Diego Padres made the World Series, and the year Trevor Hoffman converted 53 of 54 saves.

I remember the electricity whenever Hoffman entered a game at Qualcomm Stadium to the sound of AC/DC's "Hell's Bells." After 16 years with the Padres, Hoffman has taken that song to the Milwaukee Brewers, and it remains one of the coolest traditions in sports.

"People have gotten used to it," Hoffman said. "They like it here. It's pretty loud."

The Padres didn't force Hoffman out of San Diego, but when they offered him $4 million -- a pay cut from his $7.5 million last year -- the writing was on the wall. Hoffman, 41, signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the Brewers that includes up to $1.5 million in incentives for games finished.

The signing already has paid dividends for the Brewers. After opening the season on the disabled list because of an oblique strain, Hoffman has converted 18 of 19 save opportunities and has a 1.93 ERA.

"I look back at San Diego, and I was fortunate to have 16 seasons," Hoffman said. "Not a lot of people have that. I wasn't quite done wanting to play, so I had to make that decision to play someplace else."

Hoffman watched with interest when Greg Maddux, his Padres teammate in 2007 and 2008, retired last winter after climbing to eighth on the all-time victory list, with 355.

"I would have liked to have seen him come back," Hoffman said of Maddux, who went 8-13 with a 4.22 ERA last season. "I think in his eyes, with the expectations he had of himself, it was hard to walk away, but it's better than having the game push you out the door."

Like Maddux, Hoffman is a class act and a Hall of Fame lock, though the voters likely will have to brush up on his career.

He might be one of the most underrated performers of his generation. All those years closing games on the West Coast, he did his work when most of the country had gone to sleep.

When he notched his 500th career save on June 6, 2007, it came after midnight on the East Coast. When the Yankees' Mariano Rivera notched No. 500 last week, ESPN happened to be covering his game, and the network teased to its "Sunday Night Conversation" with Rivera later that night on "SportsCenter."

Hoffman never received such attention, even with his career save count at 572 and counting.

Granted, Rivera is arguably the greatest closer of all time, especially with his incomparable postseason success (8-1 with a 0.77 ERA and a record 34 saves). But Hoffman deserves to be part of that discussion.

In 1998, when Hoffman had that one blown save and posted a 1.58 ERA, he finished second to Tom Glavine in the Cy Young voting, with some saying they just couldn't vote a closer No. 1. Glavine was 20-6 with a 2.46 ERA.

Though the oversight wasn't as glaring, Hoffman finished second in the Cy voting again in 2006, to Brandon Webb, who went 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA.

Hoffman's fastball is slow now by major league standards, but he has taken enough off his all-world changeup to remain highly effective. He could become baseball's first to 600 saves, though he insists he doesn't sit around analyzing his career accomplishments.

"You can't do that because then retirement questions kind of follow," he said. "They kind of go hand-in-hand."

Hoffman will reach his 42nd birthday in October, but there are no signs of him quitting soon, especially with "Hell's Bells" ringing loud and clear.

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