I haven’t offered much analysis on Trevor Hoffman’s record-breaking achievement but there’s a good reason. I can’t offer anything cogent right now. The best I can give you is, “wow!” and share photos. I’m sure I’ll have more to say at some point, but for now I’m just going to point you to other folks. Let’s enjoy the moment a bit longer, then turn our attention to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Before I forget: All remaining road games will be televised on the giant screen facing the Park at the Park. Admission is free. “The Natural” will be shown following Saturday night’s game.
Also, Greg Rybarczyk at Hit Tracker is looking for some help on the Russell Branyan home run on Sunday. I know it travelled 453 feet but Greg is looking for a description of precisely where the ball landed. I’ll check TiVo tonight, but maybe someone else can help? If so, let us know — email Greg, email me, leave comments, whatever.
On to the links. I haven’t finished reading all these yet, just trying to get the word out:
North County Times
- Hoffman becomes all-time saves leader as Padres sweep Pirates (John Maffei)
- Only a wabbit dangles a carrot like Hoffman (John Maffei)
- Closer’s blood as blue as his collar (Brian Hiro)
Padres.com
- Colleagues salute Hoffman’s exploits (Barry Bloom)
- ‘Trevor Time’ reaches immortality (Barry Bloom)
- Hoffman makes history as Friars sweep (Amanda Branam)
- Hoffman remains dependable for Friars (Amanda Branam)
- Padres’ Hoffman becomes no. 1 closer of all time (Bill Center)
- For mates, person trumps record (Bill Center)
- The ace of saves (Bill Center)
- Hoffman Stands Alone At 479 (San Diego Spotlight)
- ESPN Should Be Ashamed To Call Themselves Journalists (San Diego Spotlight)
- 479 (Gaslamp Ball)
San Diego Union-Tribune
Blogs
And, of course, we’ve got photos here and T-shirts here.
National Coverage
None that I can find, beyond the Associated Press feed that’s filtering through various outlets. A lot of folks have dropped the ball on this one. Sadly, Hoffman and the San Diego Padres aren’t exactly media darlings so the record takes second stage to HOT! HOT! HOT! items such as Nomar Garciaparra’s walk-off grand slam against the Diamondbacks, or the Tigers clinching their first playoff appearance in 19 years. Apparently we need a little perspective out here in San Diego, where some people think setting a big-league record trumps hitting a home run or clinching a playoff spot.
Anyway, I can’t even give it a good whine. I’ve come to expect this sort of treatment from the national sports media, which is why I don’t pay much attention to them. Of course, living in San Diego, that’s a luxury I can afford. I feel bad for fans around the country who have to suffer through truckloads of irrelevant garbage just to get a tiny morsel of Padres news.
So hang out here and celebrate. Read stories, look at pictures, buy shirts, let Greg know if you have any info on the Branyan homer. And then forget about all that when tonight’s game begins at 5:10 p.m. PT because there’s still work to be done. Go to Petco Park to watch it on the big screen or join us here for the IGD. Rock on!
38 Comments
Geoff…I was at the game and had a pretty good perspective of the HR…feel free to email me or pass along my email to the good guys over at Hit Tracker.
Colin Cowherd had a great rant last week about the Worldwide Leader…he went on for almost an hour on why they cover the teams/cities they do…and, him being a West Coast guy (despite now working a national radio show for ESPN), he did a pretty good job hammering them.
Do Kudos to Trevor. Having seen hundereds of his saves over the past years, I was honored to be there yesterday. That is the first time I have ever felt like that at a game…
ESPN is a business, that is all that needs to be said. Even catching Charger highlights is tough and the Chargers are a top 5 team. Its all about big markets.
BTW, don’t want to count our chickens before they are hatched, but the Padres are the least covered team that might make the playoffs. Cold we be a sleeper, like in 98? The team that everyone over looks. If it ended today, I guess we would play the red birds, making this upcoming series interesting indeed. Have we even played the Cards this year yet? They got thier pee pee wacked by the Astros.
We beat them 2 games to 1 at Petco what seems a lifetime ago this year.
I think if it ended today we’d play the Phillies, with home field. Not sure if the Phils would be a better/worse draw than the Mets right now. Their Sept. record is equal to ours.
But, for now, we need to fully banish all such talk. 7 tough games left, more than enough to swing this thing the other way. Hoping the Rockies use the non-humidor balls (which I’m convinced in a conspiracy-theory way they do when they think they have an offensive matchup advantage) against the Dogs, and at the very least wear out that weak bullpen.
Cardinals are reeling, but I’m worried about the whole “cornered animal” thing. They’ve lost 5 straight, and they will either be a) desparate and make dumb mistakes tonight; or b) laser-focused on locking up the Central. Given that they’re mostly a veteran team with a manager who’s been around the block a few times, I’m betting on B. Since we have DW going tonight, and he has NOT been as sharp as advertised, I’m very concerned.
Geoff, as you have already noticed, I’m playing Amanda Jones to your Keith Nelson… “I wish I could live with that…*slap*”
I could live with it much better if they didn’t have the “We ARE God” attitude…or if they didn’t try to come off as caretakers of the sporting world. When they change their tagline to “The worldwide leader in sports ~entertainment~” I’ll cut them the slack…for now they deserve far more ire then I have pushed out.
I was in section 307 Sunday so I didn’t have the best vantage point to where Branyan’s HR landed but I thought it had hit the walkway that separated the bleachers from the park. I wanted to see it on ESPN but all they did was show hoffies last out then cut to dodger highlights
I think the ESPN should just Rename themselves to Yes North or NESN South.
It actually brings up and age old sports question, if it does not happen in New York, Boston or Chicago does it really happen at all?
Rich, don’t get me wrong; they suck. My response is not to watch them or support their advertisers. Not that they’ll miss my dime, but if the things I care about in the sports world aren’t on their radar, then why should they be on mine? Still, even a token effort to avoid alienating a pretty large chunk of potential viewers would be nice. Until such time, who needs ‘em…
Has anyone worked out AZ’s rotation to see if we might miss Brandon Webb? I mean, the Padres are there for four games so the chances are pretty good they’ll see him at some point — I’m just hoping it might be for one of the games that might not be of any signinficance because – fingers crossed – the division is already won…
Brandon who?
We face Webb on Sunday.
Just looked into it — he pitches Tuesday, so he’d likely go in game #162. Not sure if that’s good news or bad…
Brian, I think it is either bad news or no news…
Bad news if we still have not clinched…
No news if we have already clinched…
Webb pitching on Sunday can’t really be a “good news” thing, any way we look at it.
Thanks for all the links Geoff.
Awesome day in Padres history! Hearty congratulations to Trevor!!
My cable-modem was out all weekend – so I watched quietly (sorry if some of you are sorry I’m back)
National Love, get some National love… I got national love here…
http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9683081
Speaking of clueless national media and lack of respect for Trevor Hoffman, in his ESPN chat Buster Olney just ranked Trevor “5th or 6th” alltime as a closer. 1 was of course Rivera, and Fingers, Eckersley, and Sutter were ranked ahead of Hoffman as well. This is of course ridiculous, as Hoffman is clearly better than all those listed in front of him, except Rivera, in terms of really whatever stat you want: K/IP, K/BB, ERA relative to the league, WHIP.
GY … what’s up with the “blue blood” headline re: Trevor??? I read the article, not sure what’s trying to be said … to me, a “blue blood” is DODGER!!! Yuck … I request you change the title of the link! I don’t wany *any* references to “blue blood” at Ducksnorts!
More national haters…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2006/01/10/top10.closers/index.1.html
Hoffy #7
I don’t have a problem with Hoffy NOT being #1, Bochy rarely IF EVER uses him in non-save situations, plus in non-save situations that he is used, he has struggled. However he does have the #1 save-conversation rate (among those w/ more than 190 – to eliminate Gagne who has a higher rate in fewer opportunities), but #7? 7? 2-4 is ok w/ me…
More food for thought re: Zito … here’s BP’s STAT OF THE DAY
Top 5 Hardest-Worked AL Starters, by Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP)
Player, Team, AVG_NP, STRESS, TOT_PAP
Barry Zito, OAK, 108, 27, 94581
Mark Redman, KCA, 95, 22, 58860
Curt Schilling, BOS, 105, 18, 57158
John Lackey, ANA, 106, 17, 56890
Javier Vazquez, CHA, 103, 17, 52513
We don’t need no stinking national media. We have Ducksnorts — best blog on the net. I get more information here than I could ever hope to get on news sites.
Only other guy I MIGHT rank ahead of Trevor is the Goose. Definitely not Fingers, not Eckersley, not Sutter.
FYI Trevor is on Dan Patrick radio show right now.
16:
I can’t get into that SI thing at work. Who is ranked ahead of Trevor?
So, it sounds like he went down 6 spots in three years: This is the same magazine that put Hoffy on the cover 3-4 years ago, with the pronouncement “Best Closer of All Time.”
Thanks for the heads up, CM. I was able to catch the end of that interview.
Checking pitching matchups…looks like as things are scheduled right now Woody needs to be our horse. He will face Carpenter tomorrow, and potentially Webb in the finale.
WW’s been a rock lately, I’m not really upset with how that plays out. Jake can get too hyped up in those matchups sometimes, Wells has been shaky, Hensley is still a kid really (despite being lights out the last month or so) and Young flirts w/ too many fly balls for me to ever feel REALLY comfy with him.
We’ll see if Bochy leaves the rotation intact if those last few are as meaningful as they appear they will be. I can see him juggling to get Peavy another start, but that could backfire.
GY … one last cheap shot against the “Hold” stat … check out what my guy Wuertz did to “earn” a Hold today … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260925117 … bleh …
LM
He DEFINITELY earned that Hold.
The boxscore does not reflect the psychological damage Wuertz did to the Reds by entering the game.
That spell, unfortunately, was undone by Eyre.
Jeff Kallman at Catbird in the Nosebleed Seats has some nice thoughts on Trevor from an outsider’s perspective. As for talk about best closer, anyone who has Hoffman ranked lower than tied for first (Mariano Rivera is the only concession I’ll make) isn’t entirely clear on the concept.
To be clear, I don’t concede that Rivera is better than Hoffman; I concede that he belongs in the discussion. I’ll be researching these two in the off-season for inclusion in the book.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2601774&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1
Crasnick piece on Wells. Man, who wouldn’t want to have his life right now? About to retire with a pile o’ cash, big plans for safaris, etc., and gets one last pennant race. Well, I guess I wouldn’t want the impending massive coronary, but all else sounds good.
Another note on the article: the thought of a special, deviled egg-based “crop dusting” in the dugout by Wells totally cracks me up. Would not want to experience it though.
Wells is out for tonight because of the gout and Thompson is in… Ehh I’m not looking forward to this series! I’ll be glued to the tube but I’m freaking nervous.
RE 28 Serious? If so, that solves the “whose headed to the bully for the….you know…..
Yeah they just reported the change on 1090XX. Actually KT is on right now.
Gout, what is that, fat guy disease (kidding). Well Thompson has pitched decent, and if we can get him some run support.
Yeah I thought only lunch ladies got Gout.
XM radio did quite a bit on Hoffy today.
On Kevin Kennedy’s show he interviewed Hoffy for about 10 minutes.
All the commentators have said recently that they think that the Padres will win the division. They are split on the wild card though.
Personally I would love to see the Pads face the Phils in the 1st round because I live only one hour from Philly and will definitely attempt to get tickets.
Gout? We’re in the 21st century, who has gout these days? Didn’t Henry VIII have gout? What next, scurvy?
Wells is not getting scruvey anytime soon thats for damn sure.
Wells, Gwynn; the Pads have had their share of chunky athletes, some of that chunkiness arguably hurting their careers (though Wells did last a long, long time but his three starts, one good, is not much for Kotteras). On the Kotteras trade, it looks a bit like the Myers deal in 1998. A bit panicky with the pressure on. As I outlined before, KT earned his paycheck this off-season.
So in a near-playoff game we have to put in Thompson? Geez. I would think maybe CHP, but we’ll see how it goes. Don’t like it.
On the Hoffman controversy, I would have to do or read some of the comparisons that others have done. The guys ahead of him are very good, all HOF or future HOF. Hoffman has been used almost exclusively in save situations vs. high-leverage situations, and did not do well in the 1998 series. It seems like he should be higher, but they did put Smith well lower who had the career lead in saves, so it looks like they are discounting the “save” statistic. I am just curious what the statistics they are using instead.
I just love the guy and kind dismiss the coverage he gets as par for the course. I am astounded he has been as consistent as he has been for as long as he has been. For some reason I happen to run into a recent Colorado game. Hoffman had 2nd, 3rd no outs and bases loaded and 1 out and kept them off the board. That win counts as much as the wins for this next week. Loved it.
Let me add on thing, that might be why he is not rated higher, aside from the big market bias.
If I need someone to protect a lead in the bottom of the 9th, no matter who the other team is putting up there, I want Hoffman. Maybe some of those other guys are comparable, probably Rivera, but if that is the criteria, Hoffman would have to 1-3 on that list, without pause.
If you need someone late in the game in a tight situation, other than protecting a lead entering the 9th, Hoffman drops down. He not only never gets used that way, the few times he has, the results have not been nearly as good as the “protect the lead in the 9th” situations. That is where Rivera does really shine.
So it kind of comes down to what a “closer” is. If you allocate protecting a 9th inning lead as most of it, Hoffman is getting short shrift. If you allocate a substantial portion to being able to step into a high-leverage situation that is not just protecting the lead in the 9th, then may be able to sneak a number of people ahead of him. Six ahead of him? Seems a bit much, but if he was 4 or 5 and you had this expanded criteria, I would say that is fair.
That said, think of what we get to see. When Trevor enters the 9th to protect a lead, we are watching someone who is arguably the best of all time at doing that. And we’ve gotten to see it for a long time. The rest of the country’s loss.
A thought on the No Love for Hoffy discussion…
I have been thinking about it all day…beyond the East Coast Bias, I think we need to consider that Saves are really a new statistic with a lot of people thinking that it is not a real thing, sort of like Holds or GWRBI’s…
If I say numbers like 61*, 755, or 56, you know what I am talking about…if we say 478, nobody would have a clue.
So when I hear Rob Neyer and Alan Schwartz on baseball today talking about Trevor, they mention that the save is trivial. That might have A LOT to do with the lack of mention for Trevor to lead Sportscenter. (Granted, Rob Neyer also predicted that the Pads would choke and not make the playoffs during today’s radio show.)