Toronto Blue Jays closer Hoffman blames himself for World Series loss

59 times in the regular season and six times in the playoffs, the Toronto Blue Jays finished the game with Jeff Hoffman on the mound.

In Game 7 of the World Series with the Blue Jays having a 4-3 lead, there was a moment in time where that looked like it might be the case. Hoffman got called on to get a four-out save, with the shot at putting his name in Toronto sports immortality forever.

But with one out in the top of the ninth inning, Hoffman gave up a game-tying home run to Dodgers veteran infielder Miguel Rojas, playing in his final-ever game.

Toronto’s Shane Bieber came in on short rest in the 11th inning, giving up another go-ahead home run to Will Smith.

And while fingers will be pointed in a million different directions following the loss, Hoffman chose to direct his frustrations at himself.

“I cost everybody in here a World Series ring … it feels pretty sh*tty,” Hoffman said, as per the Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat. “Gotta execute better in that spot and not let that happen. It sucks. Supposed to end differently… just one pitch.”

Hoffman, a 2024 All-Star with the Philadelphia Phillies, signed a three-year deal with Toronto in the offseason and will likely be the Blue Jays’ closer next season as well.

Toronto manager John Schneider also offered up his thoughts on the loss, offering up a different tune than his closer.

“It will hurt for a few days, a few weeks, when you’re that close. The positive person in me will take some time to digest it,” Schneider said. “I think right now you just have to kind of, I don’t know, take in what happened. But going forward — you know, the beauty of baseball is that it goes on. There will be spring training in February. That being said, you take away the sacrifices the guys made, the way they went about it, the performances everyone had, and kind of just the cohesiveness of the team.”

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