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For months now, the baseball community has been wrapped in a passionate debate over a single play that has taken on a life of its own in the annals of the sport’s history.
In meticulous detail, fans have scrutinized every aspect: the raised spike, the frantic slide. It’s as if they believe that by rewatching, they might influence the past. Blue Jays supporters, in particular, find themselves entranced by the replay, much like gamblers fixated on dice as they tumble across the felt, hoping against hope for a different result.
The discussion centers on whether Isiah Kiner-Falefa should have taken a larger lead. Initially, frustration was aimed squarely at him. However, the narrative shifted when Kiner-Falefa disclosed that it wasn’t solely his decision; the third base coach had etched a line in the dirt, dictating the extent of his lead.
Millions tuned in from their homes, convinced that the destiny of the 2025 World Series hinged on a matter of mere inches. It’s a testament to the sport’s enduring allure and the fine lines that can separate victory from defeat.
Millions watched from home believing that the outcome of the 2025 World Series was determined by inches.
Now MLB has delivered the final verdict — and it’s not even close.
According to a recently released MLB report provided to The Associated Press, the infamous Game 7 play at the plate between the Dodgers and Blue Jays wasn’t decided by inches, a sliding foot or the controversial moment when Dodgers catcher Will Smith briefly lifted his spike off home plate.
Kiner-Falefa was already dead in the water.
“After reviewing all relevant angles, the replay official definitively determined the catcher’s foot was touching the plate when the ball contacted the interior of his mitt,” MLB wrote in the report.
Translation: The out happened the instant Miguel Rojas’ throw smacked Smith’s glove.
Three feet before Kiner-Falefa ever arrived.
The play itself unfolded like chaos wrapped in tension. Bases loaded. One out. Bottom of the ninth in a 4-4 Game 7. Blue Jays third base coach Carlos Febles had drawn a conservative line in the dirt, telling Kiner-Falefa not to stray too far from third while Yoshinobu Yamamoto battled Daulton Varsho at the plate.
Varsho chopped a grounder. Rojas briefly stumbled at second before firing home. Smith caught it. The plate umpire barked the call: out.
“I just cared that he was out,” Smith said later.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider admitted the moment may haunt him forever.
“I’ll think about it until the day I leave this earth,” Schneider said.
But the numbers don’t lie. The replay doesn’t, either.
The Blue Jays didn’t lose the World Series by inches.
They lost it by 3 feet.
And hours later, Smith crushed the exclamation point — a towering home run in the 11th inning that helped seal the Dodgers’ second straight championship, while the most argued play in baseball history quietly slipped from controversy into cold, hard fact.
The California Post recently asked Smith if he had gone back to watch the play.
“I honestly haven’t rewatched it,” said Smith, who admitted he’s afraid the outcome might change if he did.
Now he doesn’t have to worry about that.
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