class of 2016

Trevor Hoffman has retired. I'm glad I am able to say that saw him play, not just on TV but also at the ballpark in front of a home field crowd (several times in fact, in 2006 and 2007 at Petco Park, as great a place to see a game as any).  He and Mariano Rivera (who I've also been lucky enough to see live) will go down as the two greatest closers in baseball history.

They're also the only two closers who are guaranteed a place in the Hall of Fame. (There are five guys considered closers already in the Hall, but of those, four were hybrids of starting and closing, and each have over 100 wins.  Only Bruce Sutter could be called a true closer, in the modern sense.)

But while Rivera keeps chugging along, we now know that come 2016, we can look forward to Hoffman entering the Hall. (The idea of Hoffman not being a first-ballot guy seems almost impossible.)  What really impresses me, though, is how much that moment is going to mean five years from now.  At that point, we will get to see Hoffman and Ken Griffey, Jr. - another first-round lock - announced as the newest members of the Hall of Fame.  And the reason that stands out is because it's going to be a rough few years for the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Compare 2016 (Griffey and Hoffman) with the choices of 2013.  That year, the guys who become eligible will include Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens.  When you think about the fact that this year, Mark McGwire got 19.8% of the vote, and Rafael Palmeiro got 11%, you have to wonder how they are going to deal with the next few years.  All of these players who were considered the modern greats and have now been tainted by the steroid scandal - now it's the Hall of Fame's issue.  And the next few years are are going to be spent arguing how we handle that issue.  So it's nice to know that, come five years from now, we'll be able to elect a couple of guys above reproach and have a Hall of Fame class that truly meets the definition of the word 'class'.