'Change' the operative word as Hoffman nears record

[love_that_reefer]

**** the fans! Who cares if they respect Trevor. The writers, players, coaches, GMs and anyone else who really matters had this man's repsect long ago. The fans are mostly idiots as you can tell by All Star voting.

[HollywoodLeo]

**** the fans! Who cares if they respect Trevor. The writers, players, coaches, GMs and anyone else who really matters had this man's repsect long ago. The fans are mostly idiots as you can tell by All Star voting.

exactly my point of view.

[HollywoodLeo]

Five Up, Five Down

Hoffman's dominance and Girardi's familiar situation

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...own/index.html

1. Trevor Hoffman: Respect is a seven-letter word. As is Hoffman. But the two are far from synonymous. The Padres closer has pulled to within five saves of all-time leader Lee Smith (who successfully closed 478 games), yet many folks still question Hoffman's Hall of Fame worthiness. This guy is first-ballot material, period. In an age when closers are as fragile as porcelain dinnerware (see: Eric Gagne, Mark Wohlers, John Rocker), Hoffman is as solid as steel.

• The baseball slums of San Diego: Mired in that West Coast time zone, Hoffman receives greatly reduced national media coverage. While he's blowing batter after batter away with his signature, dive-bombing changeup, the country's most influential scribes are catching Z after Z. The East Coast bias is alive and well.

So it's not just us preaching the "east coast bias" eh?

[riverdunesrat]

Its similar to Jeter and the respect he gets from Boston.

Jeter gets respect from Boston? Hmmmmm.........

[riverdunesrat]

However, he is not on Mariano's level

Having seen Mo pitch in person

Maryanno's level? What is his level and why is it so much higher than Trevors? Is it just the east coast/Yankee bias speaking, or ??????

Have you ever seen Trevor pitch "in person?"

[riverdunesrat]

**** the fans! Who cares if they respect Trevor. The writers, players, coaches, GMs and anyone else who really matters had this man's repsect long ago. The fans are mostly idiots as you can tell by All Star voting.

Fans are definitely idiots, as evidenced by the mentality of some who post here.

[HollywoodLeo]

Maryanno's level? What is his level and why is it so much higher than Trevors? Is it just the east coast/Yankee bias speaking, or ??????

Have you ever seen Trevor pitch "in person?"

read the 2nd article I posted.

The guy makes excellent points.

[DirtyKash]

Kevin Towers: Hoffman Should Win The Cy Young

MLB.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- He is not totally objective, of course, but Padres general manager Kevin Towers thinks he can make a reasonable and persuasive case for Trevor Hoffman as a serious candidate for the National League's 2006 Cy Young Award.

"The Cy Young is for what a guy does for his ballclub," Towers said, "and who's done more for his ballclub in the National League than Trevor? Where are we without him?"

With Hoffman and his league-leading 37 saves and 1.87 ERA in 55 games, the Padres came into a weekend series with the Giants a half-game behind Los Angeles in the NL West while leading the Wild Card chase by 2 1/2 games over a deep field.

"You never hear his name mentioned nationally with the Cy Young candidates," Towers said. "What does Trevor have to do?

"There aren't any starters having huge seasons. I don't see any dominant candidates there. Why not consider a closer? Not only is he having a great season -- he's on his way to breaking the all-time saves record. Wouldn't it be kind of fitting to see him win the Cy Young and get that record in that same season?"

Through Thursday, Los Angeles' Brad Penny was leading the league with 15 wins, and 2005 Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter of St. Louis had a league-leading 2.97 ERA and 13 wins. Arizona's Brandon Webb has 14 wins and a 3.14 ERA. The Mets' Billy Wagner is second to Hoffman in saves with 35.

Hoffman, with 473 career saves, trails Lee Smith by five. His .902 save percentage is slightly better than the .895 he brought into the season. He endured one rough two-week stretch ending July 27 when he blew a save at Colorado. Since then, he has been flawless across 14 outings, giving up nine hits and two walks while striking out 12 in 13 1/3 innings.

Hoffman's best finish in a Cy Young race was 1998 when he ran second to Atlanta's Tom Glavine. In his finest season statistically, Hoffman saved a career-high 53 games to lead the league and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player balloting.

"I don't get a lot of national attention," Hoffman said, "but that probably works to my favor. I don't worry much about awards, that kind of thing."

"Trevor keeps showing why he's a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher," manager Bruce Bochy said.

A Cy Young would brighten that Cooperstown resume.

[Rufio181]

I don't think Hoffman is a joke at all. I think he is one of the Top 3 Relievers of all time.

He is far and away an amazing pitcher, and anyone who argues that is a ****ing idiot.

However, he is not on Mariano's level, and that's why many seem so hostile towards Trevor. I'm not going to sing Mo's praises since we all know he gets enough already, but Mo's resume speaks for itself, and I'm sure even Hoffman is wowed by Mo.

Having seen Mo pitch in person, I marvel at how anyone can make contact. And he's not as good as now as he was in the late 90's/early 00's.

However, this is a Hoffman thread, and thus I cease my Mo talk to applaud Hoffman's amazing acheivements, and I want to see him break Smith's record more than anyone, because Lee Smith wasn't impressive, he just lasted forever.

Big big East Coast bias right there.

[padrefanforever]

**** the fans! Who cares if they respect Trevor. The writers, players, coaches, GMs and anyone else who really matters had this man's repsect long ago. The fans are mostly idiots as you can tell by All Star voting.

Someone check in on Hell, see if Satan is wearing ice skates.......I agree with something reefer said......

[padrefanforever]

However, he is not on Mariano's level

I think it's the other way around.....and very easy to see
Career---
who has more saves? Hoffman
who has a better save % ? Hoffman
who has more K's ? Hoffman

When and IF Rivera passes up Trevors mark, he will then be the best in the business, until then he's just chasing the best.... Trevor is #2 today behind Lee Smith, and soon to be top of the food chain....Mo has one thing he still has to overcome in order to become the best ever.....which he can, but has yet to do......longevity........if he gets hurt next year or even this year, and isn't the same or can't play.....he'll always be less than Trevor