When I heard Trevor Hoffman picked up his 600th career save earlier this week, it made me smile because he is my favorite closer of all-time. The reasons are pretty simple and nerdy. It's not because of his sick change-up or his decade long dominance, it's because of Tony LaRussa II for the computer. See, I spent a huge portion of my adolescence drafting teams on various computer games and playing multiple seasons with them with Snacks, Bear, and 2P. And the year I drafted Hoffman happened to be the same year I found out he used Hells Bells as his entrance music. I love this, and not because I like AC/DC (although I do), but because I find the way the bells start right as he starts walking in to be pitch perfect to get a crowd all riled up. Much the way Enter Sandman works for Mariano Rivera, or even how that stupid song from that movie with Marky Mark worked so well for Joe Nathan. I've just always loved Hoffman for that.
Anyway, to complete the nerdiness cycle I will admit here that I used to keep a boombox next to the computer, and when I would bring Hoffman into the game (yes, the computer game) I would also throw in m AC/DC CD and fire up Hells Bells. And that's why Trevor Hoffman is my favorite closer of all-time.
And in that vein, and since I feel like I should post and my posting time has been cut considerably thanks to a new baby who is either up all night or in the hospital, I'm going to just go ahead and make a list of my all-time favorites by position. Please feel free to rip me and/or post your own.
C- Mickey Tettleton
1B- Kent Hrbek
2B- Wally Backman
3B- Evan Longoria
SS- Cal Ripken
LF- Rickey Henderson
CF - Tim Raines
RF- Andy Van Slyke
SP - Mike Mussina & Dwight Gooden
RP - Trevor Hoffman
Showing posts with label Trevor Hoffman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trevor Hoffman. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Week in Review - 5/3/2010
Sorry for the delay this week, but I've basically been on a 48-hour bender and couldn't find the time to post. See if you can tell which entries below I wrote earlier in the week, and which I just slapped up there right now.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Wilson Ramos. Time to trade Mauer now while he has the most value, we don't need him.
2. Justin Smoak. Finally got his first hit and first home run, and although the numbers don't look all that great now, he's still walking and the hits are going to start to come as he tears up pitching on his March to rookie-of-the year. It's a lock.
3. Colorado. I'm talking the college basketball team here. I know, you're all like "say what?" but the Buffaloes caught a huge boost when freshman stud Alec Burks decided not to enter the NBA Draft, despite a decent chance that he'd be a late first-round pick and the fact that you've never heard of him. Burks was the Big-12 freshman of the year (suck it, Xavier Henry) and had NBA scouts slobbering all over him most of the year, despite very little high-major attention coming out of high school (which would explain how he ended up in Boulder). He's now back, super stud and Big 12 third-teamer Cory Higgins is back, and new coach Tad Boyle is basically guaranteed to be better than Jeff Bzdelik (he's done a nice job with No Co). I'm not quite ready to say things are looking up for the Buffaloes, but they're looking slightly better - like working at Taco Bell instead of Taco Johns's.
4. NC State. Sticking with the college hoops theme, it looks like the Woflpack are back, for the first time since the days of Julius Hodge. This assumes that Tracy Smith's entry into the NBA draft is similar to when Dan Coleman and Spencer entered a few years ago and isn't anything real -although don't mistake what I'm saying, T. Smith is far better than either of those two clowns (I will admit I kind of might be starting to like Spencer as a radio guy). They just picked up a commitment from C.J. Leslie, an outstanding swingman and McDonald's All-American who ranks as the 14th best recruit in the country according to Rivals. He joins fellow recruits PG Ryan Harrow (ranked #19), SG Lorenzo Brown (#36), and a very talented group of sophomores (as well as Smith) to give NC State as much talent as they've had in a long time. They also have a good shot at inking the #45 recruit PF Luke Cothron. Of course Sid Lowe couldn't out-coach a wet paper bag or medium-sized rock, so there's a ceiling to their potential success.
5. Chris Tillman. If your firs reaction was that this guy is some kind of cornerback, congratulations you're wrong. And also an idiot. No, Tillman is a minor-league prospect of the Balitmore Orioles - a pitcher, to be precise - and is looking like he's every bit as good as advertised. He one-upped a much publicized outing by Stephen Strasburg where he threw five no-hit innings in AA by throwing a full-game, 9-inning no hitter in AAA. Tillman, who was acquired in the Erik Bedard trade, was ranked by Baseball Prospectus as the #3 talent under the age of 25 on the O's (behind #2 Adam Jones and #1 Adult Jesus (Wieters)) and is one of a slew of good looking pitching prospects that have brought a little bit of optimism back to Camden Yards. With the back end of the O's rotation struggling and this outing, expect to see Tillman hit the bigs sooner rather than later.
WHO SUCKED
1. Tiger Woods. I suppose it has to be said that if you thought Tiger was all the way back, he's probably not. Not after shooting 74-79 at Quail Hollow and missing the cut by 8 shots. Eight! Out of 152 players, he finished better than nine of them, and his 79 on Friday (highlighted by back-to-back double bogeys) was better than only five rounds shot in the entire tournament. That 79 was the second worst round of his career, and his 153 is his worst outing through 36 holes - ever. Simply put, this wasn't just an off weekend, it was a complete disaster. Clearly he is a golf robot fueled by sex with hookers and he's running pretty low on fuel. Might be time to get back on that horse there, guy. And I said horse. Not whores.
2. Dallas Mavericks. Remember how the Mavs were supposed to be a sleeper to make the finals from the west? :fartnoise: Good work guys. In case you missed it, the #2 seed in the West got bounced 3 games to 2 by San Antonio, once again proving that the Spurs will never die - like Al Davis or Jesse Crain. Combine an inability to guard Manu Ginobilli's nose, Jason Kidd's Colt Iverson-like three-point shooting, and the curse of Mark Cuban, and the Mavs were doomed. Seriously, these guys had one shot in the 2006 finals versus Miami and got screwed by the league mandate to give Dwyane Wade every call. Now, no matter how many trades they make, whether good (Josh Howard for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood) or bad (Jason Kidd for Devin Harris), they aren't getting back to the finals any time soon. Plus that team is WAY over their allotment of Mexicans.
3. Ben Sheets. Two starts this week, and he got absolutely shelled in each. I'm thinking that experiment is not exactly going according to plan.
4. Trevor Hoffman. Never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. Hells Bells indeeed.
5. Jevan Snead. You know how you hear about guys who go early-entry into the NBA draft and don't get drafted? Well, that's exactly what happened to Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead, except it was the NFL draft he entered early, and instead of not getting drafted in a two-round draft, it's a seven rounder. Ouch. Evan more confusing is that it wasn't exactly like his stock was rising. Snead was supposed to be a fringe Heisman candidate to start, but after a Junior year that was worse than his sophomore year and inconsistently play all-around, it should have been clear he wasn't ready for the NFL draft. And now 32 NFL GMs agreed, an average of 7 or so times a piece. What's the NFL equivalent of the D-League? The CFL? Arena League?
And yes, the NFL draft was technically last week, but I didn't know about Snead until this week so I'm including it here. Sorry, those are the rules. The moose out front should have told ya.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Wilson Ramos. Time to trade Mauer now while he has the most value, we don't need him.
2. Justin Smoak. Finally got his first hit and first home run, and although the numbers don't look all that great now, he's still walking and the hits are going to start to come as he tears up pitching on his March to rookie-of-the year. It's a lock.
3. Colorado. I'm talking the college basketball team here. I know, you're all like "say what?" but the Buffaloes caught a huge boost when freshman stud Alec Burks decided not to enter the NBA Draft, despite a decent chance that he'd be a late first-round pick and the fact that you've never heard of him. Burks was the Big-12 freshman of the year (suck it, Xavier Henry) and had NBA scouts slobbering all over him most of the year, despite very little high-major attention coming out of high school (which would explain how he ended up in Boulder). He's now back, super stud and Big 12 third-teamer Cory Higgins is back, and new coach Tad Boyle is basically guaranteed to be better than Jeff Bzdelik (he's done a nice job with No Co). I'm not quite ready to say things are looking up for the Buffaloes, but they're looking slightly better - like working at Taco Bell instead of Taco Johns's.
4. NC State. Sticking with the college hoops theme, it looks like the Woflpack are back, for the first time since the days of Julius Hodge. This assumes that Tracy Smith's entry into the NBA draft is similar to when Dan Coleman and Spencer entered a few years ago and isn't anything real -although don't mistake what I'm saying, T. Smith is far better than either of those two clowns (I will admit I kind of might be starting to like Spencer as a radio guy). They just picked up a commitment from C.J. Leslie, an outstanding swingman and McDonald's All-American who ranks as the 14th best recruit in the country according to Rivals. He joins fellow recruits PG Ryan Harrow (ranked #19), SG Lorenzo Brown (#36), and a very talented group of sophomores (as well as Smith) to give NC State as much talent as they've had in a long time. They also have a good shot at inking the #45 recruit PF Luke Cothron. Of course Sid Lowe couldn't out-coach a wet paper bag or medium-sized rock, so there's a ceiling to their potential success.
5. Chris Tillman. If your firs reaction was that this guy is some kind of cornerback, congratulations you're wrong. And also an idiot. No, Tillman is a minor-league prospect of the Balitmore Orioles - a pitcher, to be precise - and is looking like he's every bit as good as advertised. He one-upped a much publicized outing by Stephen Strasburg where he threw five no-hit innings in AA by throwing a full-game, 9-inning no hitter in AAA. Tillman, who was acquired in the Erik Bedard trade, was ranked by Baseball Prospectus as the #3 talent under the age of 25 on the O's (behind #2 Adam Jones and #1 Adult Jesus (Wieters)) and is one of a slew of good looking pitching prospects that have brought a little bit of optimism back to Camden Yards. With the back end of the O's rotation struggling and this outing, expect to see Tillman hit the bigs sooner rather than later.
WHO SUCKED
1. Tiger Woods. I suppose it has to be said that if you thought Tiger was all the way back, he's probably not. Not after shooting 74-79 at Quail Hollow and missing the cut by 8 shots. Eight! Out of 152 players, he finished better than nine of them, and his 79 on Friday (highlighted by back-to-back double bogeys) was better than only five rounds shot in the entire tournament. That 79 was the second worst round of his career, and his 153 is his worst outing through 36 holes - ever. Simply put, this wasn't just an off weekend, it was a complete disaster. Clearly he is a golf robot fueled by sex with hookers and he's running pretty low on fuel. Might be time to get back on that horse there, guy. And I said horse. Not whores.
2. Dallas Mavericks. Remember how the Mavs were supposed to be a sleeper to make the finals from the west? :fartnoise: Good work guys. In case you missed it, the #2 seed in the West got bounced 3 games to 2 by San Antonio, once again proving that the Spurs will never die - like Al Davis or Jesse Crain. Combine an inability to guard Manu Ginobilli's nose, Jason Kidd's Colt Iverson-like three-point shooting, and the curse of Mark Cuban, and the Mavs were doomed. Seriously, these guys had one shot in the 2006 finals versus Miami and got screwed by the league mandate to give Dwyane Wade every call. Now, no matter how many trades they make, whether good (Josh Howard for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood) or bad (Jason Kidd for Devin Harris), they aren't getting back to the finals any time soon. Plus that team is WAY over their allotment of Mexicans.
3. Ben Sheets. Two starts this week, and he got absolutely shelled in each. I'm thinking that experiment is not exactly going according to plan.
4. Trevor Hoffman. Never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. Hells Bells indeeed.
5. Jevan Snead. You know how you hear about guys who go early-entry into the NBA draft and don't get drafted? Well, that's exactly what happened to Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead, except it was the NFL draft he entered early, and instead of not getting drafted in a two-round draft, it's a seven rounder. Ouch. Evan more confusing is that it wasn't exactly like his stock was rising. Snead was supposed to be a fringe Heisman candidate to start, but after a Junior year that was worse than his sophomore year and inconsistently play all-around, it should have been clear he wasn't ready for the NFL draft. And now 32 NFL GMs agreed, an average of 7 or so times a piece. What's the NFL equivalent of the D-League? The CFL? Arena League?
And yes, the NFL draft was technically last week, but I didn't know about Snead until this week so I'm including it here. Sorry, those are the rules. The moose out front should have told ya.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Quick News
Just a quick break from fixing this blog's appearance and links and my, you know, real job, to hit a couple of things in case you haven't heard already.
- In really bad news, Pat Neshek of the Twins will need surgery and is likely out for all of next season. After sitting out nearly all of last year with this same injury, he re-injured his elbow last week throwing and will now need Tommy John surgery and will be down for the count. This makes an already high priority, getting bullpen help, the absolute number 1 priority no doubt. Forget Atkins or Blake or whoever else to play third base, get a top notch reliever. I have no idea who is out there, but if I feel like it later I'll get more into this. This sucks.
- One possibility would be Trevor Hoffman, who was unable to reach a deal with San Diego and will never play for the Padres again. He's a big name, and his entry music of Hells Bells is the best ever, but he's also 41 and has lost a lot of velocity. The good news for him is that his changeup has also been his out pitch. Can he become the Jamie Moyer of relievers? A quick look at his numbers says it's possible. He's just two seasons removed from finishing as runner-up for the NL Cy Young award, and last season posted a 1.04 WHIP and a 3.77 ERA, with opponents hitting just .229 against him. He would be a good fit with the Twins, as he doesn't walk anybody and his home run rate jumped through the roof last season. I think he would be a great get for the Twins, except for the pesky little salary problem. He made $7 million last year, and the Padres offered him $4 million plus incentives which he turned down in a huff. Even if the Twins were able to offer him a $4 million or so salary, doubtful at best, he would have to accept, also doubtful at best. I would love too see the Twins make an effort to get the future Hall of Famer, but fully expect someone like the Yankees to swoop in and offer him a contract more to his liking.
- Billy Beane is at it again, defying "conventional" logic and seemingly trading prospects for an expensive star player in the Rockies' Matt Holliday. Holliday is an awesome player, but you kind of have to wonder how inflated his numbers are playing in Coors (Sidler?) The A's are (allegedly) sending over Huston Street (established high-end closer), pitcher Greg Smith (highly regarded prospect) and OF Carlos Gonzalez (super highly regarded prospect) for a guy with only one year left on his contract at $13.5 million. I'll assume they won't make the trade unless they get a long term deal in place, but I still don't understand why the A's are making this move. I'm not going to question Billy Beane, but I'm very curious to see what the plan is here. If they don't get a long term deal done, my best guess is Beane thinks the pieces are there to make a run at the playoffs this season, and wanted a bat to put them over the top. If things don't work out he will just trade him again at the deadline.
- Lastly, as I'm sure everyone has already heard, Eric Decker won't be playing at Wisconsin this weekend because of that ankle injury. This is, once again, a huge blow to the offense and Adam Weber's radar lock. I'll also go ahead and take this time to officially admit I was very, very wrong about Decker. I thought his early season success was more a product of the talent on the other side of the ball that his own talent, but he's won me over. Hell, he could be the next Wes Welker.
- In really bad news, Pat Neshek of the Twins will need surgery and is likely out for all of next season. After sitting out nearly all of last year with this same injury, he re-injured his elbow last week throwing and will now need Tommy John surgery and will be down for the count. This makes an already high priority, getting bullpen help, the absolute number 1 priority no doubt. Forget Atkins or Blake or whoever else to play third base, get a top notch reliever. I have no idea who is out there, but if I feel like it later I'll get more into this. This sucks.
- One possibility would be Trevor Hoffman, who was unable to reach a deal with San Diego and will never play for the Padres again. He's a big name, and his entry music of Hells Bells is the best ever, but he's also 41 and has lost a lot of velocity. The good news for him is that his changeup has also been his out pitch. Can he become the Jamie Moyer of relievers? A quick look at his numbers says it's possible. He's just two seasons removed from finishing as runner-up for the NL Cy Young award, and last season posted a 1.04 WHIP and a 3.77 ERA, with opponents hitting just .229 against him. He would be a good fit with the Twins, as he doesn't walk anybody and his home run rate jumped through the roof last season. I think he would be a great get for the Twins, except for the pesky little salary problem. He made $7 million last year, and the Padres offered him $4 million plus incentives which he turned down in a huff. Even if the Twins were able to offer him a $4 million or so salary, doubtful at best, he would have to accept, also doubtful at best. I would love too see the Twins make an effort to get the future Hall of Famer, but fully expect someone like the Yankees to swoop in and offer him a contract more to his liking.
- Billy Beane is at it again, defying "conventional" logic and seemingly trading prospects for an expensive star player in the Rockies' Matt Holliday. Holliday is an awesome player, but you kind of have to wonder how inflated his numbers are playing in Coors (Sidler?) The A's are (allegedly) sending over Huston Street (established high-end closer), pitcher Greg Smith (highly regarded prospect) and OF Carlos Gonzalez (super highly regarded prospect) for a guy with only one year left on his contract at $13.5 million. I'll assume they won't make the trade unless they get a long term deal in place, but I still don't understand why the A's are making this move. I'm not going to question Billy Beane, but I'm very curious to see what the plan is here. If they don't get a long term deal done, my best guess is Beane thinks the pieces are there to make a run at the playoffs this season, and wanted a bat to put them over the top. If things don't work out he will just trade him again at the deadline.
- Lastly, as I'm sure everyone has already heard, Eric Decker won't be playing at Wisconsin this weekend because of that ankle injury. This is, once again, a huge blow to the offense and Adam Weber's radar lock. I'll also go ahead and take this time to officially admit I was very, very wrong about Decker. I thought his early season success was more a product of the talent on the other side of the ball that his own talent, but he's won me over. Hell, he could be the next Wes Welker.
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