Brewers' Hoffman shares No. 600 with his wife, a WNYer and ex-Buffalo Jill

September 9, 2010 - 6:02 PM

Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman thanked plenty of people after he got save No. 600 Tuesday (former Canisius player John Axford is among them, for moving aside to let the veteran close games again after saving 20 himself this year). But MLB.com found Hoffman giving credit to another source: His wife.

As this story attests, Tracy Hoffman has been particularly supportive of Hoffman's work on the field and in his charitable endeavors in their 17 years of marriage. Lo and behold, it turns out Tracy Hoffman (the former Tracy Burke) is an ex-Buffalo Jill from Williamsville.

Hoffman proposed to her at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena during the Bills' 52-17 loss to Dallas in Super Bowl XXVII, two months before he made his major-league debut with the Florida Marlins. I had never heard this connection before. Hoffman did play in 1992 for Nashville in the American Association (career stats here) and they met while he was in town to play the Bisons.

Here's a USA Today story from 2006 discussing the courtship and Super proposal.

Another entry from the small world department.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

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Mike Harrington

Mike Harrington, a Canisius College graduate who began his career as a News reporter in 1987, has covered the Buffalo Bisons since 1992 and Major League Baseball since 1995. A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Harrington has reported on 15 World Series -- including every pitch of the Fall Classic this century -- and all three of the Bisons' championship runs in their modern era. He is a connoisseur of the famous Stadium Mustard at Cleveland's Progressive Field.

@BNHarrington | mharrington@buffnews.com

Amy Moritz

Amy Moritz, a native of Lockport, has covered the Bisons for The Buffalo News since 2002. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism/mass communication from St. Bonaventure University and a master’s degree in humanities from the University at Buffalo. An endurance athlete, she has completed several triathlons, half marathons and marathons.

@TBN_Moritz | amoritz@buffnews.com

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