📰 NEWS FLASH: Don Mattingly unveils the Blue Jays’ biggest World Series regret and why it still shapes the franchise today ⚡.DD
Don Mattingly reveals the one World Series play he wishes the Toronto Blue Jays had done differently.
The Toronto Blue Jays battled the Los Angeles Dodgers over seven hard-fought games in the World Series, but in the end, they fell just short.
The Blue Jays lost Game 7 at home in heartbreaking fashion, losing by one run in 11 innings after blowing a 3-0 lead. They now face a long winter of lamenting the countless missed opportunities over the course of the seven games that could have swung the series, including several during the final game.
While this year’s Fall Classic featured numerous “what ifs” on both sides, there’s one in particular that stands out to former Toronto bench coach Don Mattingly.
Don Mattingly Reveals One World Series Play He Would Change
Mattingly, who has never won a World Series as a player or a coach, came about as close as humanly possible this year without actually winning one. The Blue Jays’ failure to win Game 7 is thus especially painful for him.
Toronto could have done a lot of things differently to win that game, especially in the late innings. The Blue Jays left 14 men on base and went just 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position, stranding five runners in the final three innings combined.
If Mattingly could change one play from the entire series, it would be the one where Isiah Kiner-Falefa got thrown out at home in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 after not taking a large enough secondary lead.
“The one thing we kind of missed…is that Varsho does not line out to third base. He does not hit line drives on that side of the field, really, and so you can get a little bit more,” Mattingly told Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman on “The Show” podcast. “So that’s the one thing I think that you change.”
Coaching Lapse Cost Toronto the Championship
After getting doubled off to end Game 6, Toronto was overly cautious to avoid the same thing happening in Game 7. Accordingly, Kiner-Falefa was instructed by third base coach Carlos Febles to stay close to third base with the bases loaded and one out as the potential winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
As Mattingly points out, however, the Blue Jays had a left-handed hitter at the plate in Daulton Varsho who was extremely unlikely to line the ball to third base. Kiner-Falefa could have taken a slightly larger lead and still been relatively safe.
If he had, he likely would have been safe at home on Varsho’s infield groundout to Miguel Rojas. Instead, Rojas’ throw beat him by literal inches, saving the game for the Dodgers and ultimately costing Toronto the title.
