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)

Hoffman, of course, has proven to be human. He blew the save in last year's All-Star Game, and earlier this season blew saves in consecutive appearances, the second one coming on Trevor Hoffman Night, against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, of all teams.

"It's almost like you don't even think of him having a tough outing because he's so good at rebounding the next time he's out there," said Oakland's Mike Piazza, who's both victimized Hoffman as an opponent and caught him as a teammate. "He always wants the ball. That's the reason why he is what he is."

A Hoffman save opportunity has become a ritual in San Diego, with the bullpen ace trotting to the mound accompanied by AC/DC's "Hells Bells" and a light show on the scoreboards. Naturally, fans were taken aback on Friday night when, in a save situation, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" started playing and Scott Linebrink jogged out instead of Hoffman.

It turned out that Hoffman's arm was "cranky" after he made three appearances in the previous four games, and the Padres were just being careful. Hoffman got saves Saturday night and Sunday as the Padres swept the Brewers.

Hoffman's 497 saves have come in 555 chances (.895). He had no saves in 2003 as he recovered from double shoulder surgery the previous winter.

Bruce Bochy remains an admirer even though he jumped from the Padres to manage the rival San Francisco Giants in the offseason.

"What's intriguing about Trevor is he has never changed _ his personality, his routine, his approach to the game and being the teammate he is," said Bochy, who enjoyed the comfort level of having Hoffman as his closer in San Diego for so many years.

"He's going to the Hall of Fame," Bochy said. "If not the greatest, he's in the top two closers of all time."

While Hoffman eschews the attention, his teammates don't. A few seasons ago, starter Adam Eaton wrote "500 or Bust" on a "Trevor Time" giveaway T-shirt and began keeping a running tally of the closer's saves in Sharpie.

With Eaton gone, trainer Todd Hutcheson keeps the tally, breaking out a new shirt each season.

The Padres presented Hoffman with a commemorative bell after he broke Smith's record.

Wells has a better idea for this plateau.

"Let's just hope that the Padres step up and maybe buy him a Ferrari this time," Wells said. "Five hundred saves is a nice Ferrari or something that's out of this world."

___

AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco and David Ginsburg in Baltimore contributed to this report.