Steve ‘Horse’ Hoffman hit 41 during the final month of the 2029 season and will have to face up to the fact that he will not be pitching in the MBBA at 42. With Indy set not to renew his one-year deal he will once more hit the FA market but this time with precious little hope of catching on with another MBBA club. If you can’t keep your job with the worst team in the league what hope have you got?As I prepare to release Steve Hoffman (6/7/7 Ratings) I thought I’d pen his career history. 19 consecutive MBBA years at 14 different franchises despite five major injuries deserves a mark in the history of this fine league
The ‘Horse’ story started way back in 2011, when after a 2006 College Conference All Star Victory Bell win, a 2006 CCAS RCK Glove Wizard Award at P and a 2008 CCAS RCK Outstanding Pitcher Award all for Sherwin Williams Painters, he was drafted first overall by the California Crusaders. He signed a three year $3m major league deal with a signing bonus of $1.8m as well but within a month was lost for the season with a torn labrum. He had opened his MBBA account though with two wins from two starts with a 3.14 ERA. 2012 was virtually a write-off too as radial nerve (elbow) decompression surgery cost him six months off and he made just five starts, winning three and knocking a point off his ERA. It was 2013 that his MBBA career really ignited, in 20 starts he went 11-7 with an ERA over four and his first All-Star appearance before a mid-season trade to Omaha. There in 13 further starts he was 7-2 with an ERA of 2.13 leading to him picking up the 2013 MBBA JL Joe Gillstrom Newcomer of the Year
Four more years in Omaha brought 49 more wins and 26 losses. He appeared in his second All-Star game in 2014 and finished runner-up in the 2015 MBBA JL Steve Nebraska Golden Arm Award voting to Chicago’s Tom McDonald. 2015 was also the year he got his first big deal as arbitration awarded him $8,125,000. An elbow strain in 2016 became his third major injury of his career, costing him three months off, but Omaha weren’t deterred and handed him a three-year extension worth $31.5m in the 2016 off season. He logged his first two pro shut-outs in 2017 before he was off to his third MBBA franchise when Omaha traded him to Halifax. His 22 starts for the Hawks in 2017 posted a 16-0 record with a 2.57 ERA and 178 K’s. This brought his third ASG appearance, a Landis Memorial Series ring when Halifax defeated Carolina 4-1 and his only Steve Nebraska Golden Arm Award.
As the ‘Horse’ reached 30 he had two mediocre years by his standards in 2018 & 2019, posting 19-11 & 16-16 records. He still made the 2018 ASG, his fourth and pitched his third career shutout. Despite his falling record Halifax handed him a five-year $62m extension at the start of 2019. Just a year later he was on his fourth MBBA team when Yellow Springs acquired him in a six-player deal during 2020 spring training. After eight starts he had a 3-3 record when his injury jinx struck again. A partially torn ulnar collateral ligament (elbow) robbed him of 11 months. November 2020 saw Yellow Springs gratefully get rid of his large contract by sending him to Montreal who before he had pitched a ball in anger had passed him on to his sixth franchise, the Buffalo Bison.
In 2021 in 26 starts for Buffalo he showed there was still something left in the tank with a 13-5, 2,56 ERA record and a shut-out against Indy before once more a biceps strain laid him low for a month. He finished 2021 at Triple-A Winnipeg Chiefs, his first ever minor league outing, where he went 1-0 in three starts including his fifth career shutout. Back in Buffalo in 2022 he was 7-5, 2.94 in 21 starts when in July he was traded in another six-player deal to Las Vegas, he managed just four starts for the Hustlers (1-2, 7.77 ERA) before they wasted no time in sending him a month later to his eighth team, the Birmingham Bandits. He made his first two career relief appearances in Birmingham amongst his eight outings posting a 4-2 record.
On April 3rd 2023 Hoffman notched his 2,000th strikeout but his 34 years was telling on him as he finished with a 10-16 record, his first pro losing record, with an ERA of 4.40. Still he had made 32 starts pitching just over 200 innings with 187 strikeouts. 2024 saw a 7-7 record in 19 starts before Birmingham sent him to his ninth franchise in Huntsville mid-August. In 14 outings for the Phantoms he started just three times and finished the season with a 1-0 record but with his ERA back down below three. At the end of the season aged 36 he became a free agent for his first time. Valencia snapped him up on a $7.8m one-year deal and there he made 32 starts for the Stars once more pitching over 200 innings and striking out over 100 batters for the 15th time in his career. A 9-15, 3.07 ERA wasn’t enough to earn a new contract though and once more at the end of 2025 he was a free agent.
Las Vegas laid out a $3.8m deal to bring him back to the franchise again but he suffered his fifth major injury (ulnar nerve irritation) in the final week of spring training which cost him the majority of 2026. He recovered in time to make two appearances (one start) for the Hustlers after seven outings in Triple-A. He pitched 10 innings in Las Vegas without a decision and a 0.90 ERA. Claimed off waivers in October by his 11th team New Orleans, he lasted only 29 days and no outings before he was once more a free agent.
Havana rented him for 2027 with a $1,3m contract, at 38 he made 29 appearances, only two of them starts. In 60 innings he posted a 2-2 record with four saves and a 3.43 ERA. In 2028 Madison became his 13th owners, stumping up $1.55m. Ever the work horse he pitched 89 innings in 10 starts & 13 relief appearances ending up with an 0-2 record with one save and a 6.27 ERA. On July 13th he hit the 2,500th strikeout mark before he was released at the end of the season. Finally at the age of 40 he was picked up by Indy in June 2029 for $1.6m, his 14th MBBA franchise. In 18 starts for Grasshoppers he posted a 2-10 record with a 6.47 ERA. He is currently awaiting what could well be his final release.
MBBA Career Record
Games: 470
Games Started: 416
W-L: 184-132
Saves: 5
ERA: 3.48
IP: 2962.2
BB/K: 722 / 2547
CG / SO: 43 / 7
WHIP: 1.24
WAR: 68.9