Hoffman first Arizona Wildcat elected into Baseball HOF

The Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2018 has been decided.

Former Arizona Wildcat Trevor Hoffman was one of four players selected for induction into the HOF by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday. 

He is joined by Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, and Jim Thome, as well as Alan Trammel and Jack Morris who were elected in December by the Modern Era Committee.

In 2017, Hoffman came up five votes short of the necessary 75% of votes for election. This year, Hoffman finished with 79.9% of votes, just enough to be cemented into Cooperstown.

Before becoming one of the most well-known closers in baseball history, Hoffman played infield at Arizona in 1988 and 1989.  He was drafted in the 11th round of the 1989 draft to the Cincinnati Reds as a shortstop, but transitioned into a pitcher within a few of years of being in the Reds organization.

In 1993, Hoffman was selected by the Florida Marlins in the expansion draft. A few months later he was traded to the San Diego Padres where he spent 16 of his 18 major league seasons. 

Hoffman had a record 552 saves with the Padres. His 601 career saves, are second most all-time to Mariano Rivera, who has 652.

The induction ceremony will be July 29 in Cooperstown, New York.