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Case Closed: With his intimidating entrance and a changeup from hell, Trevor Hoffman of the Padres nails down wins better than anyone While you were sleeping, Hoffman -- who pitches mostly at 1 a.m. in the Eastern time zone, home to nearly half of the country's population -- rung up 325 career saves, eighth best alltime and within realistic range of Lee Smith's record of 478. Even more impressive is the fact that he has converted 88.8% of his save opportunities, the best success rate since Rolaids began tracking the statistic in 1988. On May 1 he broke Dennis Eckersley's record for saves with one club, and after Hoffman saved two games against the Pittsburgh Pirates last weekend, his total with San Diego stood at 323. He also owns the single-season record for reliability (98.1% in 1998, blowing one of 54 save chances, and the Padres recovered to win that game) and is the only pitcher ever with five 40-save seasons. Only the national atomic clock in Colorado has been more reliable, and this year Hoffman has had the edge; at week's end he was 11 for 11. -- Tom Verducci Issue date: May 13, 2002 Photograph by V.J. Lovero
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