NEW YORK -- Former Padres closer Trevor Hoffman will be inducted into the Hall of Fame someday soon -- if not this year, his first on the ballot.
Hoffman faces the age-old dilemma of how eligible voters from the Baseball Writers' Association of America view relievers in general, and one-inning closers in particular.
Thus far, only six pitchers who spent at least parts of their careers as closers have been inducted into the red-bricked museum on upper Main Street in Cooperstown, N.Y. -- Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Rich "Goose" Gossage and, most recently, John Smoltz.