Jordan HammThere are few things more discouraging for an opposing baseball team than seeing Trevor Hoffman take the mound.
“Hells Bells” by AC/DC starts chiming as the 6-foot-1, 200-pound closer makes his way to the mound. For most of his career, he was wearing Padre navy, but he might as well have been in a black rope with his changeup acting as his scythe.
Brian Johnson narrates what’s coming next for the next few hitter:
I won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives
Nobody’s putting up a fight
I got my bell, I’m gonna take you to hell
I’m gonna get you, Satan get youHell’s bells
It’s one of the most iconic entrances in sports for the man who sits second all-time in saves with 601 and a 2.87 earned run average over an 18-year Hall of Fame career.
But Arizona Wildcat baseball fans who watched Hoffman play in Tucson in 1988-89 never saw that side of him. They saw a shortstop who hit .371, 35 points higher than his Wildcat teammate and longtime San Francisco Giant J.T. Snow. His transition to the mound didn’t happen until he had been in Minor League Baseball.
Not bad for one of the best relievers of all time.
On Friday, the Wildcats honored Trevor Hoffman‘s #15 in right-centerfield of Hi Corbett Field, joining Terry Francona’s #32. Initially, the infielder turned reliever was hesitant of being recognized and felt his college career was not to the same standard as Francona’s or fellow Arizona standout Chip Hale, but he eventually had a change of heart.
“Obviously they took into some consideration my time in the big leagues, and pro career, and I came around to the idea that I’d love to be honored in this way,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman, who donned #51 while with the Padres, said the time he spent growing up as a college student set himself up for the success he would have as a big leauger.
Immortalized in Cooperstown — and now at his alma mater @ArizonaBaseball.
Congratulations, @THoffman51! pic.twitter.com/TxSnmviUoG
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) February 16, 2019
“I just think the experience of being on your own is important,” Hoffman said. “I got an opportunity to play a high level of baseball here at U of A and Division I baseball in the Pac-10…I don’t think you can put a price tag on the social experiences I might have had here at school that prepared me from when I was going to be on my own.”
Despite the Cactus League’s departure from the Old Pueblo, the Wildcats usually sit atop the attendance rankings in the conference and are one of the best attended programs in the country. That’s one of the reasons Hoffman believes Tucson is a baseball destination.
“It’s a fantastic baseball town,” Hoffman said. “It goes way back. I had the chance to look at the plaque of all the Hall of Famers that have played here at Hi Corbett…it’s a thriving city that loves baseball that is well supported.”
Hoffman’s legacy has always been a point of pride with the Wildcat faithful, now it’s just official.
