Comments on: Hoffman polishes Hall resume with age-defying effort http://www.hardballcooperative.com/?p=921 Baseball analysis, insight, commentary and more Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:32:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: JGS http://www.hardballcooperative.com/?p=921&cpage=1#comment-208 JGS Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:44:39 +0000 http://www.hardballcooperative.com/?p=921#comment-208 Hoffman has a huge leg up on Smith in terms of the place in the game that the save occupied during their careers. Over the last couple of decades of increased bullpen specialization, the save has become a much more important stat than it used to be, and considering the year-to-year volatility of relief pitchers in general and closers in particular (Brad Lidge is a great example of that), Hoffman's consistency has been nothing short of remarkable. I think Lee Smith should be in the Hall of Fame (along with being the poster child for why you have 15 years of eligibility--what he did is more impressive now than it was when he first became eligible) but I firmly believe Trevor Hoffman will get the call when his time comes. That being said, his record will certainly be broken, likely by the 27 year old K-rod. On his 27th birthday, K-rod had 208 saves. At that same age, Hoffman had 25 saves to his name, and Rivera just 5. Barring catastrophic injury, he could go well past 600 Hoffman has a huge leg up on Smith in terms of the place in the game that the save occupied during their careers. Over the last couple of decades of increased bullpen specialization, the save has become a much more important stat than it used to be, and considering the year-to-year volatility of relief pitchers in general and closers in particular (Brad Lidge is a great example of that), Hoffman’s consistency has been nothing short of remarkable. I think Lee Smith should be in the Hall of Fame (along with being the poster child for why you have 15 years of eligibility–what he did is more impressive now than it was when he first became eligible) but I firmly believe Trevor Hoffman will get the call when his time comes.

That being said, his record will certainly be broken, likely by the 27 year old K-rod. On his 27th birthday, K-rod had 208 saves. At that same age, Hoffman had 25 saves to his name, and Rivera just 5. Barring catastrophic injury, he could go well past 600

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