Should the Brewers retire Trevor Hoffman's number someday?

[Invader3K]

I thought this would make for a fun discussion.

 

With Trevor Hoffman getting his 600th save last night in Milwaukee, and being a probable first ballot Hall of Famer; should the Brewers retire his #51 someday?

 

Yes, he's only been a Brewer two seasons and hasn't taken them to the World Series or anything; but I have to think his number would look pretty good next to Rollie's. Discuss.

[DuWayne Steurer]

We're setting the bar pretty low if we do. Guys that were 1-2 seasons in a Brewer uniform (aside from Hank, who was in Milwaukee for 15 years), I just have to say no on.

[kilgore37]

Nope. SD will no need for us to

[And That]

No... we could always retire the number 600 or something.

[RU Rah Rah]

No.

[Outlander]

I doubt it will ever be considered, no.

[Nottso]

Good Lord, no. I hope we're not that desperate for something to hang our collective hat on.

[hawing]

I'm leaning toward "no" too, even though it could increase the value of Brian Shouse t-shirts. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

I'm not sure Rollie spending only 4+ seasons of his lengthy career in Milwaukee is itself any more honor-worthy, but he did score those big awards in 1981. Though I'm delighted with Trevor's achievement and am happy he reached 600 here, it feels more like Milwaukee happened to be where he was when the milestone happened. It just doesn't feel the same to me.

 

Having said this, I agree with And That that a "600" ball up by Uecker's, or a 600 sign somewhere, sounds like a doable compromise.

[Fatter than Joey]

No way. Rivera is bound to surpass 600 any way.

[dlk9s]

I say they retire the changeup. His is so good, nobody should ever be allowed to throw one again.

[endaround]

No way. Rivera is bound to surpass 600 any way.

Of course we expected Hoffman to have surpassed 600 by the end of April.

[Invader3K]

No way. Rivera is bound to surpass 600 any way.

We'll see. He's at 555 now (or thereabouts), but not getting any younger. Still seems pretty healthy, though.

[And That]

No way. Rivera is bound to surpass 600 any way.

Probably, but... he'll need at least one more full, healthy season to get there, if not two. At his age, health is a diminishing guarantee.

 

And who's to say if Hoffman won't pitch next year, too. If Hoffman gets another 20-30 saves, would the odds of Rivera catching him be that great?

[endaround]

No way. Rivera is bound to surpass 600 any way.

We'll see. He's at 555 now (or thereabouts), but not getting any younger. Still seems pretty healthy, though.

He has lost some velocity this year. He'll end up with around 560 saves after this season which probably means another 2 seasons for him to get above 600.

[uwisfan]

no, you cant do this for a guy that played 2 years, one of which was crappy, for your team.. especially without the Crew even making the playoffs before that time. They would have to retire Don Sutton, Rollie Fingers, Cecil Cooper, & others first.

[carniesandrubes]

If we do it for him, might as well do it for Sabathia too. No on both.

[RightFieldCoder]

They haven't retired 17 yet, no reason to retire 51.

[bucks2281]

I think I'll turn in my fan card if they retire #51.

[And That]

They would have to retire Don Sutton, Rollie Fingers, Cecil Cooper, & others first.

They retied Rollie Fingers' #34.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

In retrospect, they probably shouldn't have retired Rollie's number. Trevor would be far lower on the list. I think some type of honor in the future would be nice...walk of fame, permanent display for the #600 on the concourse...something of that nature to honor him and keep a slight tie to Milwaukee. He was a great player last year, not so much this year, but always a class act, super teammate and a great ambassador of the game. He will always be a Padre, and rightfully so.

[BREWCREW5]

Count me in for one more that agrees there should be something in the walk of fame. I am guessing that it will probably end up being the photo of Coffey, Braun and Fielder carrying him off of the field. Speaking of that...Does anyone have the feeling that it was Braun and Fielder's idea to do that and Coffey kind of squirmed in?

[Fatter than Joey]

Of course we expected Hoffman to have surpassed 600 by the end of April.

 

I sure didn't.

 

And who's to say if Hoffman won't pitch next year, too.

 

I think the smart money is on Hoffman never being a closing reliever again.

 

Probably, but... he'll need at least one more full, healthy season to get there, if not two. At his age, health is a diminishing guarantee.

 

He is still is a pretty effective reliever, which Hoffman is no longer.

 

In retrospect, they probably shouldn't have retired Rollie's number.

 

I tend to agree with this -- however Fingers did win a Cy Young, and MVP as a Brewer.

 

Pete Rose collected his 4000th hit as a Expo. I see Hoffman's accomplishment in the same light -- It is amazing to amass 600 saves, but let the Padres acknowledge Hoffman's great career.

[Fatter than Joey]

Speaking of that...Does anyone have the feeling that it was Braun and Fielder's idea to do that and Coffey kind of squirmed in?

 

I sure don't.

 

It seems fitting that someone from the BP carry Hoffman -- I don't know why Braun needs to do it.

 

Also, the way our BP is going this year, I could have envisioned Axford blowing out both his knees carrying Hoffman -- so Coffey seems like a good choice to roll the dice, hauling Trevor around.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Hoffman was devastatingly effective most of last year as well, and then this year he fell off a cliff. The same could VERY well happen to Rivera in the next year or 2 as well.

[Bikeage77]

No, for all the reasons above.

 

I was at the game last night, but thought someone would be handing out "I Was There..." certificates afterwards ala Yount and Ryan. Didn't see anyone though. Has anyone heard about the Brewers doing this? I can't imagine em not doing it after keeping that banner up there for 3 months collecting dust before they started to let him close again.

 

Hopefully they just chose to wait it out till he got it to not waste paper each night.