BFT on Trevor Time

If you did not wake up this morning to "Hells Bells" by AC/DC as your alarm, then you must already be off to a bad start today.

Everyone should know that today is the reveal of the Hall of Fame players elected into the 2018 class. Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, and Vladimir Guerrero appear to be locks in this year's class. For some unexplained reason, Trevor Hoffman is still on the ballot. This is an absolute embarrassment to the Baseball Writer's Association of America (BBWAA). Trevor Hoffman ranks 2nd all time in saves, he's 7 time All-Star, and he has the most seasons with at least 40 saves (9). The MLB even named an award after Trevor Hoffman for the top reliever in the National League. How, then, was Trevor Hoffman not a first ballot Hall of Famer? It is plain and simple: East Coast bias.

Trevor Hoffman holds a comparable career to Mariano Rivera, except for his postseason record. No one can blame Trevor Hoffman for his postseason experience, or lack thereof. Hoffman played for an organization that made the playoffs FOUR times in his entire MLB career. Mariano Rivera, who should also be a first ballot Hall of Famer, made the playoffs SIXTEEN times out of the NINETEEN years he played in the MLB. You can absolutely add value to Mariano for his incredible postseason record, but you should not be able to knock Trevor Hoffman because he played on a terrible team. As a reliever, Hoffman did everything in his power to close out wins for the Padres. He holds the record for most consecutive seasons with 40 or more saves (4), and he accomplished that feat twice. He has 601 saves, and only Mariano Rivera has more saves. I am going to throw two percentages out there: 88.77% and 89.07%. These percentages are converted save opportunities. Mariano edges Trevor Hoffman by .3% all time. Mariano also had 55 more save opportunities than Trevor over his career. The numbers are virtually identical. You had the two greatest relievers of all time playing at the same time. Trevor Hoffman never received a fair shake. He played on the West Coast for a struggling franchise for the majority of his career. I am not saying that Mariano does not deserve to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. I am saying that they BOTH deserved to be first ballot Hall of Famers.

At the end of the day, both players will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. It will happen, eventually. Hoffman has been slighted, though. He deserved much better than he was given. People remember Hoffman for his dominant changeup, but the majority of people forget that he was a power pitcher until he tore his rotator cuff during the strike in 1994. He had to change the entire way that he pitched. Both Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman were known for their dominant pitch, the cutter and changeup respectively, but Hoffman has been slighted because of the franchise he played for which led to his lack of postseason experience.