Trevor Hoffman (True) Rookie Cards

With the 20th Pick of the 11th Round in the 1989 MLB June Amateur Draft, the Cincinnati Reds selected Trevor Hoffman from the University of Arizona. Trevor Hoffman has one true rookie card.

Trevor Time! Queue the Music!

It was something right out of a movie. The San Diego Padres find themselves in a bit of a pinch trying to get the final out of the eighth inning.

Manager Bruce Bochy comes out to relieve his pitcher and immediately there is a buzz that starts to come from the stands, the fans knew it was “Trevor Time.”

Bochy signals the bullpen and simultaneously cues the entry music for his closer, Trevor Hoffman. It was the opening notes of AC/DC’s song, Hell’s Bells.

The crowd loved the bantering of their opponents as the eery toll of the bells blasted through the speakers as Trevor Hoffman made his way to the mound.

Drafted but Unprotected

Trevor was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 1989 as a shortstop but was not impressing anyone with his bat so they made him a pitcher.

One could clearly start to see why he was the 290th overall pick.

We can only assume that he didn’t impress anyone with his pitching either because Cincinnati left him unprotected in the 1992 Expansion Draft.

Luckily he was picked up by the Florida Marlins but even that was short-lived and he was quickly traded to the Padres where he played 16 of his next 18 years in the big leagues.

Trevor Hoffman Finds Himself

If his entry song didn’t intimidate his opponents the pitching was sure to do the trick. Trevor wore his hat low, to his eyebrow.

He had a jawline made of cinder blocks and one serious game face.

He hid the ball very well and his delivery included an extremely high leg kick as he zipped through batters with his mid 90’s fastball.

But his success came with his devastating change-up.

To batters, it looked and felt like a fastball, delivery and arm speed were identical, but he would grip the ball in such a way to take some of the velocity off the ball.

So it’s coming towards the plate appearing like a mid-nineties fastball but it’s more like mid-eighties. Strike three batter, you’re out!

Trevor Hoffman Beloved by Fans

Trevor was loved by fans because he always went above and beyond your typical high fives and autograph signings.

He was approachable and would frequently have conversations with fans that wanted to talk baseball.

Also, well-respected by his peers, taking on the leadership role of captain. Managers bragged about his work ethic. Genarro Filice wrote in a Sports Illustrated article, “Exception to the Rule” (February 8, 2011), and gave us this insight about Trevor,

“After every save opportunity, whether he converted it or blew it, Hoffman would sit in the dugout for up to five minutes after his teammates had cleared out. Whether it was the euphoria from success or the sting of failure, he would sit there and drain all the emotion out of himself, put the game behind him, and move on.”

And that, boys and girls, is how Trevor Hoffman collected 601 Saves. He was the all-time saves leader in MLB history for five years until some guy by the name of Mariano Rivera broke it in 2011.

Career Stats & Accomplishments

According to Baseball-Reference.com Trevor Hoffman stats are: Career Summary: Games Played 1,035 | Innings Pitched 1089 | Strike Outs 1,133 | Saves 601 (2nd All-Time) | Wins 61 | Losses 75 | ERA 2.87

Accomplishments:

• 7x All-Star
• 2x Rolaids Relief (1998 & 2006)
• 2004 Hutch Award
• 2006 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
• 2008 Branch Rickey Award
• 2018 Hall of Fame Induction

Trevor Hoffman True Rookie Card

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1992 Bowman, #11 (RC)

The 1992 Bowman brand really stepped up and offered collectors to this point, their best modern-day release.

You could consider this set to be a benchmark product of the 1990s. At the heart of the “mass-produced era,” Topps opted to do something different.

They printed their Bowman set to order, meaning order forms were sent to hobby shops, those forms were collected than printers ran to fulfill orders.

This approach cut production runs which equates to hobby gold. This 705 card set is loaded with Hall of Fame rookie cards most of which are dressed in some pretty corny street clothes.

But not our featured HOF’er.

On this, the only true Trevor Hoffman rookie card he opted to go old school vintage on us and posed for the photo like so many pitchers did back in the ’60s and ’70s, with a fake pitch, follow through. Love it!

Overall card design was a head above the rest. This set was hobby gold for many years.

Happy Collecting Collectors,

Learn. Collect. Enjoy.