Trevor Hoffman walked slowly to his locker, holding a bottle of water instead of champagne. Turning around and facing the glaring media lights, he spoke words that were a lot harder than the ones he’ll give at his Hall of Fame induction someday.
Never a man of few words, Hoffman was nearly speechless. After what transpired Monday night at Coors Field, no one could really explain the meltdown of the greatest closer in major-league history.
“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m having a hard time doing that. It’s not like I don’t want to express it. But to play in that game and the way it was, the way everybody participated the way they did and the way it turned out the way it did, it’s hard to do.”
Hoffman probably can’t explain it because it so rarely happens and, possibly, never in such a crucial moment in his career and in the history of the San Diego Padres. The all-time saves leader with 524, Hoffman was a major reason the Padres frittered away the National League wild-card berth.
And it started before Monday.
Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee, with the Padres leading with two outs in the ninth inning and needing one win to clinch the berth, Hoffman had two strikes on Tony Gwynn Jr. after giving up a double. But the son of, ironically, the Padres’ Hall of Fame outfielder, drilled a tying triple and the Brewers won in extra innings.
The Brewers blitzed the Padres the next day, forcing Monday’s playoff for the wild-card spot, and Hoffman’s collapse continued. Facing five batters, he gave up two straight doubles, Matt Holliday’s tying triple, an intentional walk to Todd Helton and Jamey Carroll’s game-winning sacrifice fly in the 13th inning to give the Rockies a 9-8 win and the wild card.
It’s safe to say Hoffman has never, over a two-game period, given up a double, triple, got an out, then double, double, triple, intentional walk and then a sacrifice fly.
The free fall suggests a pattern, a mechanical flaw if not a fallout in confidence. But this is Hoffman’s 15th big-league year and he’s seen it all – until Monday night.
“It happened pretty quick,” he said. “Everything felt really good out there. I just couldn’t get the job done.”
However, hidden behind his capturing the all-time save record this season has been a year that has not been sterling. Monday was his seventh blown save and dropped him to 4-5 this year. Coors Field has always been especially tough on him. Entering the season, he was 1-3 at Coors with a 5.59 ERA.
“I’m a professional, man,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re at. You have to be ready to go no matter where you’re at.”
Padres manager Bud Black stood up for his man, saying, “I’d take my chances with Trevor, if you look at the all-time percentage and the number of saves. But eventually it could happen.”
That was no consolation to Hoffman. He has been in four postseasons and never won a World Series. He will turn 40 on Oct. 13, which would’ve been in the middle of a fifth World Series run. That’s what makes this blown save so different than his few others.
“We’re going home,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re going home. And you can’t point to any other factor other than my performance.”
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
