Flashback Friday: Trevor Hoffman

As Trevor Hoffman closes in on save No. 500 (he had 495 before Friday's game), I thought it would be fun to take a look at his first save, the one of the two he had as a member of the Florida Marlins, back on April 29, 1993.

As he has done so many times since then, Hoffman entered the game in the bottom of the ninth with the Marlins clinging to a one-run lead over the Braves. Atlanta had the top of its order up and Hoffman got off to a somewhat rocky start (apparently he has made his saves interesting since the beginning) by walking leadoff hitter Otis Nixon. But in true Hoffman form, he locked down the game, getting Jeff Blauser out on a sacrifice bunt that moved Nixon to second and then getting both Terry Pendleton and David Justice to fly out to left in consecutive at bats.

Hoffman saved the game for Luis Aquino and after picking up one more save and a 2-2 record he was traded to San Diego with Andres Beruman and Jose Martinez for and Gary Sheffield and Rich Rodriguez. While Beruman and Martinez did little for the Padres, the trade still came out somewhat even as San Diego got its closer for the next 13 (not including the season he missed due to injury) while Sheffield helped the Marlins win a World Series. Granted, I would take a World Series title over a solid closer, but Sheffield was not going to get us there.