Former Arizona Wildcats baseball standout Trevor Hoffman was listed on 74 percent of the Hall of Fame ballots, falling only one percent short — only five ballots — of what is necessary to reach that prestigious point.
Hoffman, in only his second year of eligibility, most likely will get in next year. Only Jim Bunning received at least 70 percent of the vote before his final year on the ballot and was never elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (he eventually made it via the Veterans Committee).
Hoffman received 327 of 442 total votes on BBWAA ballots this year, earning 74.0% of the vote in his second year on the ballot, up from 67.3% in 2016. Hoffman fell just five votes of induction.
Trevor Hoffman misses out by 1%. Curt Schilling went from 52% last year to 45% this year. #12Sports pic.twitter.com/pfdZ8cnEyE
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) January 18, 2017
Hoffman is second on the all-time saves list with 601, behind only Mariano Rivera, and posted a 2.87 ERA in 1,035 games, a 141 ERA+ in his 18-year career with the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers.
He took to Twitter to express his feelings about falling incredibly short of making it to the Hall of Fame:
To be a Hall of Famer in our game. For me, falling short of this class is disappointing, but I don't take being on the ballot lightly…
— Trevor Hoffman (@THoffman51) January 19, 2017
I'm grateful for every vote and I'm truly humbled to have come so close…
— Trevor Hoffman (@THoffman51) January 19, 2017
I hope to one day soon share a Hall of Fame celebration with my family, friends, teammates and all of San Diego.
— Trevor Hoffman (@THoffman51) January 19, 2017
Hoffman led the league in saves in 1998 and 2006 and posted nine seasons of 40 or more saves. He finished second in National League Cy Young balloting in 1998 and 2006 and finished fifth in 1996, and made seven All-Star teams.
Another former Arizona standout, Shelley Duncan, expressed his displeasure with the results of the voting on Twitter:
Absolute joke Hoffman misses #HOF2017. No respect for voters now in how they are treating this process in every way. #HOF is losing cred.
— Shelley Duncan (@shelldunc) January 19, 2017
Jeff Bagwell, Ivan Rodriguez and Tim Raines are the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bagwell played most of his career with Houston when the Astros were the parent franchise of the Class AAA Tucson Toros. He never had an assignment with Tucson. After his acquisition as a Boston minor-leaguer in 1990, he went directly to Houston and played at the big-league level until 2005.
Trevor Hoffman had 9 seasons with at least 40 saves (all for @Padres), tied with Mariano Rivera for the most in MLB history. pic.twitter.com/9RtiGexE4S
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 18, 2017
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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