The Blue Jays came mere inches away from a World Series win against the Dodgers this year, with one particular series-defining play likely haunting the franchise for quite some time.
After Toronto's Game 7 loss, many Blue Jays fans pointed out a pivotal moment in the ninth inning that might have won the team the title right then and there. At the bottom of the ninth with the game tied and the bases loaded for Toronto, Daulton Varsho hit a grounder in between first and second. The Dodgers were able to throw out a sprinting Isiah Kiner-Falefa just in the nick of time, in part due to Kiner-Falefa's small lead off the third-base bag.
Blue Jays fans directed their frustrations at Kiner-Falefa for not taking a bigger lead, though the utility infielder claimed his coaches told him to stay close to the bag.
A new video from that game-changing moment shows Blue Jays third base coach Carlos Febles not only presumably telling Kiner-Falefa where to lead off, but also marking that exact spot on the ground.
You can see him clearly make a mark in the dirt here:
As the discussion over the bases-loaded play in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 continues, one thing I haven’t seen pointed out: Blue Jays third-base coach Carlos Febles marked the exact spot where he wanted Isiah Kiner-Falefa to lead off.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 6, 2025
There are so many elements to this… pic.twitter.com/VxVY6j7GZd
"They told us to stay close to the base," Kiner-Falefa said after Game 7's loss. "They don’t want us to get doubled off in that situation with a hard line drive. ... They wanted a smaller lead and a smaller secondary, so that’s what I did."
By all accounts, Kiner-Falefa isn't in the wrong here. Sure, he could have ignored Febles's alleged advice and taken the risk of getting doubled off, but it makes sense that during arguably the highest pressure point of the game he chose to heed his coaches.
The Blue Jays wound up losing, 5–4, after 11 innings, capping off an instantly iconic World Series that will go down as one of the best ever in baseball history—and, sadly, as one of the cruelest ever series in Toronto's history.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as New Video Shows Blue Jays Coach’s Subtle Move That May Have Cost Them a World Series.
