Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman sets to pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre.Kevin Sousa/Reuters
Toronto Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman does two things really well – win baseball games and lose them. From an entertainment standpoint, they have equal value.
To begin the weekend, Hoffman was in the losing head space. Hoffman came into a 1-1 game on Saturday and started rolling the ball to the plate.
The first batter he faced hit a home run. The second one did as well. Four batters later, Hoffman let in one more run, just in case. The Toronto crowd booed, which it rarely does.
Hoffman’s been at this a long time, so he did the smart thing. He came out afterward and leaned into the pain.
“(The booing) is understandable. That’s what happens when you’re on a good team. People expect you to win every night. That’s good when they’re booing. I like that.”
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I doubt that, but it’s the right thing to say.
As starter Max Scherzer put it the next day: “I give up homers as much as anyone. I get it.”
Hoffman’s even better than that. He’s tied for the most home runs of any reliever in baseball. That isn’t optimal for your closer, but it is exciting.
As a result of Hoffman’s implosion, the Jays were in an either/or game on Sunday. Either they were going to win and everyone would feel great, or they were going to lose and everyone was going to light their own hair on fire.
Hoffman (left) huddles with catcher Tyler Heineman during the ninth inning.Kevin Sousa/Reuters
Scherzer started and wasn’t great. He’s got what’s being described as back tightness.
“I gotta take all the drugs I can take,” Scherzer said afterward. There’s another reason I wish I had his job.
Scherzer was out after four innings and guess what?
“Didn’t want to go to [the] bullpen that early,” said manager John Schneider. “Obviously.”
Obviously.
But after trying to lose it for them – a bases loaded, none out slip-up in the fifth – the bullpen won it for them. The man who got them out of that jam, Tommy Nance, was the day’s MVP.
By the time it got to the ninth, it was 8-4 Toronto. Already over. But whoa, whoa, whoa – here comes Hoffman.
When the Jays got Hoffman this off-season, his advance billing was as a guy who had some sort of physical defect. Baltimore was in position to sign him and backed away because of it. Toronto jumped in to get him at a tidy discount.
He has the languor of a man who doesn’t take things too seriously – an absolute necessity for a closer. But more importantly, he brings that Mitch Williams feel to every outing. He’s either going to clap his hands and bring thunder down on the other team, or he’s going to give up four hits in a row and lose the game all by himself.
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There is no other position in sports that occupies this role. Plenty of people screw up and cost their team games. Without that agony, there can be no ecstasy.
But there isn’t one person on the team whose job it is to absorb all that peril. It’s a special job for a special guy.
The result is a game that was over after two hours, but kept you watching for another 45 minutes.
When Hoffman came in, a ripple went through the crowd. The first batter he faced struck out swinging. The crowd roared.
The second guy hit a sinking liner into left that was caught by a sprawling Myles Straw. The atmosphere ebbed. Almost disappointed that this was going so well.
The third batter, Jackson Chourio, hit a ball so hard that you thought it was either going over the wall or through it. It hit the wall in left-centre about three feet short of a home run. A double.
The crowd tipped, but not angrily. You watch sure-thing ninth innings for the same reason you go to horror movies – in the hopes that you will be terrified.
One on, the winning run sitting in the Milwaukee clubhouse thinking about putting his pants on, and the entire crowd on its feet clapping.
Christian Yelich legged out an infield single. Suddenly, many things were possible. Done two days in a row, where would this rank on all-time Blue Jays reliever meltdowns? Somewhere near the top.
Then William Contreras grounded out. Jays win 8-4. Never in doubt.
Hoffman may not be the greatest closer in baseball. There’s a line of thought that he shouldn’t be a closer, full stop.
But Hoffman is also the reason you watch baseball. You want to see guys take it right to the edge of what is bearable, and then pull it back. You also want to see them take it there and lose their grip on it, and then see how they handle it.
You want to feel that push and pull between a pitcher’s need to finish this one off and the batter’s need to ruin that for him. One of them has to be disappointed. Depending on the stakes and how things have been going for you lately, one of them sometimes has to be gutted like a fish.
The Jays head out now for their most important road trip of many seasons – through Cincinnati, the Bronx and Houston. If they are still in the lead in the AL East once it ends, they will almost certainly end up there at the finish. That’s how bad the Yankees’ schedule is in September. Whatever the case, there are 25 more Toronto games, plus however many they can manage in the playoffs.
Thanks to Hoffman, you will be forced to watch every out of every one of them, just in case. It may not be conducive to great heart health, but it’s real value for your sports-watching dollar.