Hoffman Ready to Ring in His 500th Save

San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman holds one of the balls he used in collecting 497 career saves while posing in a memorabilia room at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Monday, May 28, 2007. The all time save leader has a ball from each of his saves. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi) (Lenny Ignelzi - AP)

"I hope Trevor gets a little more respect than he's getting," Smith said in a phone interview. "500 saves, it's unbelievable. I'm glad to see someone bring a little more light onto the reliever's role."

Even when Hoffman broke Smith's record there was grumbling from some quarters that the save is a cheap stat.

"I don't remember any easy saves," Smith said.

With Hoffman approaching such a nice round number, it begs the question: Does 500 saves compare with, say, 500 homers?

"Well, nobody's gotten 500 saves," said Maddux, who has 337 career wins. "A lot of people have 500 homers. He's setting the bar."

Wells agrees.

"You've got to be around a long time to get that many home runs, and you've got to be around a long time, obviously, to get that many save opportunities," the lefty said. "They're there to save us, to get us wins. They're just as valuable as anybody else's home runs, as anybody else's wins. By far."

Said Brewers left fielder Geoff Jenkins: "It's way more than 500 homers."

Jenkins noted that Hoffman has continued to thrive because of his wicked changeup. Hoffman's fastball tops out at about 88 mph.

"He's got the Nintendo change," said Jenkins, a friend and admirer of the closer. "It's a video game changeup."

Jenkins isn't sure if anyone else will have the longevity to catch Hoffman and whatever number he finishes with.

"I don't think it makes 300 saves look bad," Jenkins said. "That's still a pretty awesome number for somebody. But 500, that's an insane number."