When Trevor Hoffman earned the first of his major league record 554 saves – for Florida on April 29, 1993 – Jason Motte was 10 years old. Hoffman, now 41 years old and 552 saves removed from the Marlins, and Motte, now 26, will serve in similar roles this season.

Hoffman, whom the San Diego Padres invited to leave as a free agent after 16 years with them, will close games for the Milwaukee Brewers once he has recovered from his strained oblique. Motte, who gained one save in 12 relief appearances last season, will most likely have the opportunity to be the St. Louis Cardinals’ closer.

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Did you see the advertisement Bobby Valentine placed in The New York Times the other day? Well, it wasn’t labeled an advertisement, but it was better than any full-page ad Valentine could have bought for the going Times rate of $155,000.

Not much different from the ads for Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s luring prospective customers with swanky dresses or expensive watches, Valentine’s ad was aimed at a smaller, more specific group and it didn’t cost him a dime.

Hey, Bob Watson and Paul Seiler, it declared, I’m available to manage Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. It was Classic Valentine.

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Nolan Ryan is the only club president in baseball history who pitched seven no-hitters, won 324 games, struck out 5,714 batters, including 383 in one record-setting season, and received 98.79 percent of the votes in his election to the Hall of Fame. He also walked 2,795 batters and threw 277 wild pitches, both career major league records, but who’s counting?

Twenty-six other teams have presidents, but none of them played professional baseball, let alone major league baseball. You won’t find the names Larry Lucchino, Randy Levine, Dave Dombrowski, Dennis Kuhl, John Schuerholz, Stan Kasten or Jamie McCourt in any baseball encyclopedia.

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