Padres Legend Trevor Hoffman Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame

SAN DIEGO, CA – Padres legend Trevor Hoffman was elected Wednesday to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hoffman, 50, played 16 of his 18 Major League seasons in San Diego. The former closer once held the career record for saves and became a public face of the organization.

Last year, Hoffman was just five votes shy of the 75 percent threshold necessary to win a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. This year he received 79.9 percent.

"On behalf of the entire Padres family, we would like to send our heartfelt congratulations to Trevor Hoffman and the Class of 2018 on being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame," Padres Executive Chairman Ron Fowler and General Partner Peter Seidler said in a joint statement.

"Since 1993, when he first donned a Padres uniform, Trevor has represented our organization and the city of San Diego with an incredible sense of class and dignity. Not only is Trevor the all-time National League saves leader, he is an even better human being, and we are thrilled that he will be enshrined in Cooperstown as a Padre next to the greatest players in the history of baseball."

Hoffman is widely regarded as one of the greatest Padres of all time.

In September 1996, he saved the season's final three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers to lead the Padres to the team's first division title in 12 years. The following June, Hoffman earned his 109th save to surpass Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers as the franchise's all-time leader.

The relief pitcher's resume boasts a 2.87 earned-run average and 601 saves.

Hoffman, who lives in San Diego, finished his career in 2010 with the Milwaukee Brewers. When he retired, he was the all-time saves leaders, but his record was later broken by New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

Hoffman was twice named National League Player of the Year and was a seven-time All-Star.

Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Jim Thome were also elected to the Hall of Fame's Class of 2018. They will be inducted in a ceremony July 29.

By City News Service; Kristina Houck/Patch contributed to this report.

AP Photo/Alex Gallardo