Trevor Hoffman Taking His Time Before Delivering Next Pitch in Retirement

Filed under: Brewers, Padres, Spring Training

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Winter's migratory patterns wired into him like those of sea turtles or birds, Trevor Hoffman could've homed in on the ballfields here blindfolded when spring training beckoned.

The drive from coastal San Diego to greater Phoenix? A prolonged exhale, Hoffman grateful that his new life as a former ballplayer still includes baseball.

"I don't know what I would have done had I not been able to get on the highway and drive out for spring training," said the save king, who retired from pitching last month. "Sitting at home, it would've have been like, 'I'm missing out on something.' "

It's an odd sight nonetheless, Hoffman with fungo bat, standing on a mound yet well behind the rubber, eyeing not the catcher but a Padres pitcher in front of him.

Don't call him Coach Hoffman, though. That title fits his older brother Glenn, San Diego's third-base coach.

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