SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Padres pitching legend Trevor Hoffman swung by Dick’s Sporting Goods on Sports Arena Boulevard to meet with fans and sign more than a few autographs on Saturday.
With pens and memorabilia in hand, hundreds lined up for hours.
“Me and him got here about 8:30. A good almost four hours,” Patrick Ollero, a Padres fan, said. “I’ve met him several other times. But, you know, every time you meet him it’s good to talk stories with him.”
That’s what it’s all about for Hoffman on this Saturday afternoon baseball and the fans.
“It’s about reaching about part of the Padres organization no matter who it is and just talk baseball and get excited about the NLCS,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman cruised through signing autographs like he did through a ninth inning to get clutch save. A moment many fans won’t forget.
“Trevor is somebody that I’ve watched his whole career that he’s been here in San Diego. And, I just fell in love with how much he loves baseball,” Patricia, another Padres fan, said.
The NLCS is a place Hoffman is familiar with being a member of the 1998 team that made it there.
And the energy around the city and for the team is as it was back then.
“Being on this side, it’s way more relaxing, a lot more exciting. And I’ll be honest with you I think the energy is pretty equal,” Hoffman said. “I’m living and dying with these guys too just like everybody else and I’m looking forward to some wins.”
