On Wednesday afternoon, Trevor Hoffman’s quest to be elected into the Hall of Fame came to fruition after barely missing out last year. In his third go-around on the ballot, Hoffman was voted into Cooperstown by 79.9 percent of the writers and while looking back on his career on Murph & Mac Thursday morning, Mike Krukow said there’s one person the closer needs to thank.
“To be able to do that for as long as he did and as consistently and effectively as he did, I really tip my cap to that,” Krukow said. “But the fact that he had to wait another year, he should’ve been in last year, I’m very happy for him. I think that Bochy had everything to do with him getting there.”
Hoffman first crossed paths with Bochy shortly after he was traded to the Padres by the Florida Marlins in 1993. Bochy began his tenure as the Padres’ manager in 1995, where he went on to become the winningest manager in franchise history with 951 wins before being hired by the Giants in 2007. Under Bochy’s leadership, Hoffman was a five-time All-Star, led the National League with 53 saves in 1998 and 46 in 2006, held a 2.58 ERA, and had two second-place finishes for the Cy Young Award. Hoffman and Bochy developed a deep relationship that remains strong to this day.
Throughout his 18 years in the Major Leagues, Hoffman devastated his opponents with his nearly untouchable changeup. Aside from a portion of his rookie season with the Marlins and two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of his career, Hoffman spent 16 years with the Padres from 1993-2008. He racked up 552 of his 601 career saves and put up an overall 2.76 ERA with the Padres.
“The other thing about him, aside from the 601 saves, his longevity,” Krukow said. “I think that impresses me the most and when you’re a reliever, that’s the most abusive part of the team, to get up and pitch three, four or even five days a week or to get up and get a couple humps before a game. That all takes scrapping and it’s just so hard with the wear and tear on his arm.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and start from the beginning for Krukow on Hoffman.