I just want to preface this by saying that I love Hoffman's work ethic, his sportsmanship, and his desire to compete. It's a model all young pitchers should try to emulate, and in a game where the role models are sometimes hard to pick out, he's a no-brainer example of who you'd love to see the kids today look up to. In addition, he's been the cornerstone of the Padres in the post-Gwynn era, and we'd have had nowhere near the success we had the last three seasons were it not for his outstanding level of play.

With that said, the "it" I'm referencing in the title is that intangible quality some players have, and some do not. The ability to block out the situation in the standings, the stadium they're in, how many people are watching, or anything else that shouldn't affect a professional pitcher. Basically, clutch. Big stage clutch, specifically...different than getting the last three outs in a tuesday night home game against the Astros in May.

I looked back (thanks to Retrosheet), and using memory + some stats available on their site I pulled up some examples that illustrate what I'm talking about. Off the top of my head, before I pulled up the stats, I was thinking to myself "it's been going on for over a decade now" - and as a matter of fact, the first game that I was thinking about was 11 years ago today.

1. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1996/B10050SDN1996.htm
STL vs SD, Division Series Game 3 Played on Saturday, October 5, 1996 (N) at Jack Murphy Stadium

"CARDINALS 9TH: HOFFMAN REPLACED LOPEZ (PITCHING); FLAHERTY
REPLACED VAUGHN (PLAYING C ); SMITH BATTED FOR MATHEWS; Smith
lined to left; Gant walked; Jordan homered [Gant scored];
Gallego was called out on strikes; Mabry singled to right;
Pagnozzi singled to center [Mabry to second]; Alicea struck out;
2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cardinals 7, Padres 5."

2. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1998/B10010HOU1998.htm
SD vs HOU, Division Series Game 2 Played on Thursday, October 1, 1998 (D) at Astrodome

"ASTROS 9TH: LEYRITZ STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); MYERS REPLACED
SHEETS (PLAYING C ); MICELI REPLACED ARIAS (PITCHING); Gutierrez
singled to shortstop; Ausmus out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to
first) [Gutierrez to second]; HOFFMAN REPLACED MICELI
(PITCHING); Gutierrez stole third; Biggio was walked
intentionally; Spiers singled to first [Gutierrez scored, Biggio
to second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Padres 4, Astros 5."

I understand this one was Miceli's loss, but Hoffy's come into games with players on base before, and he was facing Bill Spiers.

3. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1998/B10070ATL1998.htm
SD vs ATL, League Championship Series Game 1 Played on Wednesday, October 7, 1998 (N) at Turner Field

"BRAVES 9TH: Galarraga struck out; Klesko walked; Lopez singled
to left [Klesko to third]; BAUTISTA RAN FOR LOPEZ; A. Jones out
on a sacrifice fly to center [Klesko scored]; Williams grounded
out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 2,
Braves 2."

Walk, single, sac fly. Pads won this one (thanks Caminiti!) but it was another postseason trip-up.

4. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1998/B10200SDN1998.htm
NYY vs SD, World Series Game 3 Played on Tuesday, October 20, 1998 (N) at Qualcomm Stadium

"YANKEES 8TH: R. MYERS REPLACED HAMILTON (PITCHING); O'Neill
walked; SHEETS REPLACED R. MYERS (PLAYING SS); HOFFMAN REPLACED
GOMEZ (PITCHING); Williams flied to right; Martinez walked
[O'Neill to second]; Brosius homered [O'Neill scored, Martinez
scored]; LEDEE BATTED FOR SPENCER; Ledee grounded out (second to
first); Posada singled to center; Mendoza grounded out
(shortstop to first); 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 5, Padres 3."

The Yankees are evil, we know this...though again, big game, big stage, and he struggles.

5. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B07110NLS2000.htm
AL vs NL, All-Star Game Played on Tuesday, July 11, 2000 (N) at Turner Field

"AMERICAN LEAGUE 9TH: VIDRO STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); HOFFMAN
REPLACED ALFONZO (PITCHING); Durham singled to right;
Garciaparra singled to left [Durham to third]; Lawton singled to
right [Durham scored, Garciaparra to third]; Lawton stole
second; Ordonez out on a sacrifice fly to center [Garciaparra
scored, Lawton to third]; Erstad reached on an error by Vidro
[Lawton scored (RBI)]; Posada struck out; McGriff struck out; 3
R, 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  American League 6, National League 2."

In this one, again, not a playoff game, but a big stage game, with the focus of the baseball-watching country. AL was leading 3-2 going into T9 so Hoffman didn't get the loss, but the NL did score once in B9. Can't play the hypotheticals game, but those 3 runs were big.

6. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B06130NYA2004.htm
SD vs NYY, Game Played on Sunday, June 13, 2004 (D) at Yankee Stadium

"YANKEES 9TH: HOFFMAN REPLACED OTSUKA (PITCHING); Giambi flied to
center; Posada struck out; Matsui homered; LOFTON BATTED FOR
CLARK; Lofton homered; Cairo was called out on strikes; 2 R, 2
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 2, Yankees 2."

For me, this one hurts more than the last game of this season, and trails only #8 on this list as the most painful Padre game I've ever seen. Wells pitched a gem in his return to Yankee stadium, Otsuka was dominating in his 1 IP, and a 2-0 lead with 2 outs looked like it was enough. However, Hoffman got too careful as he often does, went 2-0 to Matsui, and he sent the next one over the RF fence. Kenny freakin' Lofton was up next, went 2-0, fouled off the next pitch, then sent a 2-1 pitch almost the exact same place as Matsui's. We rallied back, but the rest of the pen let the Yanks come back again as they're apt to do.

7. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2006/B07110NLS2006.htm
AL vs NL, All-Star Game Played on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 (N) at PNC Park

"AMERICAN LEAGUE 9TH: HOFFMAN REPLACED GORDON (PITCHING); Dye
grounded out (pitcher to first); Tejada grounded out (pitcher to
first); Konerko singled to left; LOPEZ RAN FOR KONERKO; Glaus
doubled [Lopez to third]; Young tripled to center [Lopez scored,
Glaus scored]; Mauer grounded out (pitcher to first); 2 R, 3 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  American League 3, National League 2."

Good players, yes, but a big stage again too.

8. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2006/B09180LAN2006.htm
SD vs LA, Game Played on Monday, September 18, 2006 (N) at Dodger Stadium

"DODGERS 9TH: ADKINS REPLACED CUST (PITCHING); Kent homered; Drew
homered; HOFFMAN REPLACED ADKINS (PITCHING); Martin homered;
Anderson homered; Lugo flied to center; ETHIER BATTED FOR SAITO;
Ethier popped to shortstop; Furcal flied to right; 4 R, 4 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Padres 9, Dodgers 9."

We can all argue that Jon Adkins had no business closing out this game, 4-run lead or not. However, the job of your closer is to come in in pressure situations, when the crowd's popping, the other team feels they have some momentum, and eliminate all of that to get your team back on the bus with a win. He looked dazed, stunned, flustered, whatever you want to call it.

9. http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2006/B10010ARI2006.htm
SD vs AZ, Game Played on Sunday, October 1, 2006 (D) at Chase Field

"DIAMONDBACKS 9TH: ROBERTS CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF);
CAMERON REPLACED SLEDGE (PLAYING CF); HOFFMAN REPLACED LINEBRINK
(PITCHING); Byrnes popped to second; Tracy homered; Jackson
homered; Quentin walked; Snyder forced Quentin (first to
shortstop); CALLASPO BATTED FOR VALVERDE; YOUNG RAN FOR SNYDER;
Callaspo forced Young (second to first to shortstop); Ball
deep in hole, throw to first wide, Gonzalez came off bag to get
it, threw to second and Young appeared to beat throw as Greene
did not tag him. Padres protested that play at second was force
out, so Poncino reversed call and ruled Young out. Replay shows
that Greene was off base when he caught the ball; 2 R, 2 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 7, Diamondbacks 6."

I include this game for two reasons. First, the situation was similar to the one the Padres were just in against Milwaukee, however Hoffman was able to get it done here after a few HRs. Second, if they lose this one, the Padres get the wild card, play the Mets (instead of the white-hot Cards), and who knows what happens at that point. I think we'd have had a much better chance to advance to the next round at least. Just kind of odd. Again though, a big game, a clinching game, and he struggled.

I feel like absolute poop going back over these games, like I'm crucifying Hoffy and think he's terrible, when that's absolutely not the case. His consistency and dependability for the other 98.7% - literally, I count 901 appearances between regular/all-star/postseason games and only about 11 "big time" games that he's failed in - is why he's going to be a first-ballot hall of famer. That said, in the postseason:

1-2 record (win was a blown save where he was still pitcher of record when Padres took lead in next half inning)
4 saves in 6 chances
0 holds in 2 chances
3 non-save/hold appearances

And that's excluding big regular season games where the pressure's on, or it's a national audience game, such as the play-in game on Monday or the All-Star games.

Again, I really like Hoffman. He's good. Great, even. But in a game 7, one-run lead, is he the guy to call on to close it out? And isn't that ultimately what you want your closer to do?