Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher

On Jun 18, 1:47 pm, "Paul G. Wenthold" <p....DeleteThis@purdue.edu> wrote:
> Maurice wrote:
> > Did you see that Trevor Hoffman won the DHL Delivery Man of the Month
> > award for May. He had an unbelievable month. Hoffman was 11-for-11 in
> > save opportunities in May, tying him with Brian Fuentes of the
> > Colorado Rockies for the most saves in the Major Leagues. The right-
> > hander allowed no earned runs in 13 games, striking out 10 batters
> > over 12.1 innings pitched while only surrendering six hits. Hoffman,
> > already the all-time saves leader, is two saves shy of recording the
> > 500th of his career. The closer is currently tied for third in the
> > National League with 16 saves. This is the third Delivery Man of the
> > Month award for the five-time All-Star (May - 2005; September - 2006).
>
> Everyone, meet Maurice. Trevor Hoffman's press agent.

Hoffman should probably let his press agent know that he recorded his
500th save two weeks ago.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

Maurice wrote:

> Did you see that Trevor Hoffman won the DHL Delivery Man of the Month
> award for May. He had an unbelievable month. Hoffman was 11-for-11 in
> save opportunities in May, tying him with Brian Fuentes of the
> Colorado Rockies for the most saves in the Major Leagues. The right-
> hander allowed no earned runs in 13 games, striking out 10 batters
> over 12.1 innings pitched while only surrendering six hits. Hoffman,
> already the all-time saves leader, is two saves shy of recording the
> 500th of his career. The closer is currently tied for third in the
> National League with 16 saves. This is the third Delivery Man of the
> Month award for the five-time All-Star (May - 2005; September - 2006).
>

Everyone, meet Maurice. Trevor Hoffman's press agent.

paul (AFHOF)
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

Maurice <gaifwol RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:

> Did you see that Trevor Hoffman won the DHL Delivery Man of the
> Month award for May. He had an unbelievable month. Hoffman was
> 11-for-11 in save opportunities in May, tying him with Brian
> Fuentes of the Colorado Rockies for the most saves in the Major
> Leagues. The right- hander allowed no earned runs in 13 games,
> striking out 10 batters over 12.1 innings pitched while only
> surrendering six hits. Hoffman, already the all-time saves
> leader, is two saves shy of recording the 500th of his career.
> The closer is currently tied for third in the National League with
> 16 saves. This is the third Delivery Man of the Month award for
> the five-time All-Star (May - 2005; September - 2006).

So are you nominating him for the Rose Award, or what?

cordially, as always,

rm
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

Please note that Hoffman now has 501 career saves. That is actually
501 more than Mr. Wenthold. My deepest apologizes for not updating
DHL's press release, which was accurate when they wrote it. Please
forgive me.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

Paul, I actually appreciate the back and forth. I would appreciate
your honest opinion - do you really think that he won't go into the
Hall of Fame? 500 saves seems to me to be enough to get in. Yes, he
has played in San Diego, and hasn't been on the radar screen of most
baseball fans, but he has been so consistantly good for so many years,
you would think he would be a lock. If Eckersley is in, Hoffman should
go.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

On Jun 19, 10:25 am, "Paul G. Wenthold" <p... DeleteThis @purdue.edu> wrote:
> Maurice wrote:
> > Paul, I actually appreciate the back and forth. I would appreciate
> > your honest opinion - do you really think that he won't go into the
> > Hall of Fame? 500 saves seems to me to be enough to get in. Yes, he
> > has played in San Diego, and hasn't been on the radar screen of most
> > baseball fans, but he has been so consistantly good for so many years,
> > you would think he would be a lock. If Eckersley is in, Hoffman should
> > go.
>
> The HOF voters have not had too much love for relievers. Yes, Eck is
> worthy, but then again, Eck had a decent career as a starter, so has
> much higher contributions. Almost 200 wins, and 3500IP along with his
> 400 saves.
>
> The writers have been slow to recognize modern-style closers. Look at
> how hard it was for Sutter to get in, even. As I said, it will depend
> on what the writers decide about relievers. As for right now, they
> haven't been too kind. That does not bode well for Hoffman.
>
> Lee Smith was the previous career save leader, and has been HOF eligible
> for what, 5 years? Last year he got 45% in the voting, and is still
> about 150 votes short. Will Hoffman be different?
>
> Well, one thing for Hoffman is that he is still going. He has the
> opportunity to blow the record out of the water, kind of like what
> Rickey Henderson did with SB (of course, Rickey was much more than SBs).
> Beating the record badly will help. I'm still not sure how much, though.

ESPN.com recently polled 62 HOF voters on whether they would vote for
Hoffman. They got 58 yes votes, and four undecideds. He's a lock.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

Maurice wrote:

> Please note that Hoffman now has 501 career saves. That is actually
> 501 more than Mr. Wenthold. My deepest apologizes for not updating
> DHL's press release, which was accurate when they wrote it. Please
> forgive me.
>
>

1) that's Dr. Wenthold to you
2) I might not have 501 saves, but I am an Active Future Hall-of-Famer
(according to RLM). Hoffman's fate is going to depend upon how HOF
voters handle relievers in the future. As of right now, signs are not
promising
3) My most vivid memory of Hoffman is watching him warm up in the
bullpen at Wrigley a few years ago and promptly going in and blowing a 3
run lead in the bottom of the ninth

paul (AFHOF)
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

On Jun 19, 1:25 pm, "Paul G. Wenthold" <p....DeleteThis@purdue.edu> wrote:
>
> The writers have been slow to recognize modern-style closers.

Perhaps the writers feel that a HOF pitcher needs to pitch more than
the equivalent of 1.37 games per month.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

Maurice wrote:

> Paul, I actually appreciate the back and forth. I would appreciate
> your honest opinion - do you really think that he won't go into the
> Hall of Fame? 500 saves seems to me to be enough to get in. Yes, he
> has played in San Diego, and hasn't been on the radar screen of most
> baseball fans, but he has been so consistantly good for so many years,
> you would think he would be a lock. If Eckersley is in, Hoffman should
> go.
>

The HOF voters have not had too much love for relievers. Yes, Eck is
worthy, but then again, Eck had a decent career as a starter, so has
much higher contributions. Almost 200 wins, and 3500IP along with his
400 saves.

The writers have been slow to recognize modern-style closers. Look at
how hard it was for Sutter to get in, even. As I said, it will depend
on what the writers decide about relievers. As for right now, they
haven't been too kind. That does not bode well for Hoffman.

Lee Smith was the previous career save leader, and has been HOF eligible
for what, 5 years? Last year he got 45% in the voting, and is still
about 150 votes short. Will Hoffman be different?

Well, one thing for Hoffman is that he is still going. He has the
opportunity to blow the record out of the water, kind of like what
Rickey Henderson did with SB (of course, Rickey was much more than SBs).
Beating the record badly will help. I'm still not sure how much, though.

paul
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

In <1182270317.944178.119490.TakeThisOut@n2g2000hse.googlegroups.com> Maurice <gaifwol.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> writes:

>Paul, I actually appreciate the back and forth. I would appreciate
>your honest opinion - do you really think that he won't go into the
>Hall of Fame? 500 saves seems to me to be enough to get in. Yes, he
>has played in San Diego, and hasn't been on the radar screen of most
>baseball fans, but he has been so consistantly good for so many years,
>you would think he would be a lock. If Eckersley is in, Hoffman should
>go.

I think Hoffman's a lock. The only ones comparable currently active are
Rivera and Wagner, who have been better but for roughly five fewer seasons.
Rivera's having his problems this year at age 37. Wagner is still going
strong, but I wouldn't bet on him remaining at this level for five more
years.

--
Jim
New York, NY
(Please remove "nospam." to get my e-mail address)
http://www.panix.com/~kahn
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

Maurice <gaifwol DeleteThis @yahoo.com> trolled:

> Please note that Hoffman now has 501 career saves. That is
> actually 501 more than Mr. Wenthold. My deepest apologizes for
> not updating DHL's press release, which was accurate when they
> wrote it. Please forgive me.

The thing you should be asking for forgiveness is paying any
attention to what pseudo stat fan Wenthold has to say on _any_
topic, but on baseball in particular.

For years Wenthold has embarrassed himself in this forum with his
lack of insight into the aesthetic aspects of the game. His sole
"contribution" has been to echo statfans in their pathetic attempts
to scientificize baseball.

Trash like Wenthold is best ignored.

cordially, as always,

rm
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

In article <1182275136.467599.308800.DeleteThis@q69g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>,
Seapig <seapig.DeleteThis@altavista.com> wrote:

> ESPN.com recently polled 62 HOF voters on whether they would vote for
> Hoffman. They got 58 yes votes, and four undecideds. He's a lock.

Perhaps. But who knows what the state of relieving may be five years
after Hoffman retires?

--
Hank Gillette

"This is an administration that is very careful about obeying the law."
-- White House Press Secretary Tony Snow
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher 

On Jun 19, 5:42 pm, Hank Gillette <hankgille....RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:
> In article <1182275136.467599.308....RemoveThis@q69g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>,
>
> Seapig <sea....RemoveThis@altavista.com> wrote:
> > ESPN.com recently polled 62 HOF voters on whether they would vote for
> > Hoffman. They got 58 yes votes, and four undecideds. He's a lock.
>
> Perhaps. But who knows what the state of relieving may be five years
> after Hoffman retires?

Nobody knows, but it's hard to imagine that closer usage will get any
more oriented toward accumulating large save totals than it has been
during Hoffman's career, so I don't think we'll see the 500 save
milestone become commonplace (let alone 600, which isn't out of the
question for him). Plus, he's more than just the saves - he's got
excellent rates stats. The people who say "Lee Smith isn't in, why
should Hoffman be in?" ignore the fact that Hoffman has been a better
pitcher than Smith was, regardless of the save totals.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoffman wins DHL Award for best relief pitcher