“WE COULD HAVE TOLD HIM TO GET OFF A LITTLE BIT MORE”
As the Toronto Blue Jays continue to carry the weight of their heartbreaking 2025 World Series collapse—a gut-wrenching Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers—Manager John Schneider has finally broken his silence with a stunning admission of regret over the specific, game-defining ninth-inning decision that haunted Toronto’s title dreams.
In his first major media availability since the dramatic extra-innings defeat, Schneider revealed the one moment that stands as the most painful “What If” in franchise history: the decision regarding pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s (IKF) lead off third base in the bottom of the ninth.
THE GAME-DEFINING PLAY
With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth and the championship-winning run on third base, the sequence unfolded as follows:
- Runners on the Corners (1 Out): The Blue Jays had the winning run, IKF, standing on third base after replacing a hobbled Bo Bichette.
- The Play: Daulton Varsho hit a ground ball to Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas.
- The Result: Rojas fielded the ball and fired a perfect throw to the plate, tagging out IKF at home just inches before he could score the winning run. The play, reviewed for several agonizing minutes, was upheld, sending the game to extra innings, where the Dodgers eventually prevailed.
SCHNEIDER’S STUNNING ADMISSION
The play has been analyzed thousands of times, often focusing on Rojas’s throw. However, Schneider admitted the true error lay with the Blue Jays’ coaching staff and the base-running instruction provided to IKF.
“We’ve all seen it a million times… with the benefit of hindsight, we could have told him to get off a little bit more,” Schneider confessed. “It stings. It hurts. That’s how close it was. That’s why details matter.”
The manager was referring to the need for IKF to take a larger lead off third base, knowing that Varsho—a left-handed hitter—was highly unlikely to hit a line drive to third base that would necessitate a tight lead to avoid getting doubled up. IKF’s cautious stance cost him the extra step he needed to beat the throw.
THE ENDURING AGONY
While the entire city also relives closer Jeff Hoffman surrendering a game-tying home run to the Dodgers’ No. 9 hitter, Miguel Rojas, with two outs in the top of the ninth, it is the base-running gaffe that Schneider, and likely the players, will carry the deepest regret over.
The failure to score with the bases loaded in the ninth was the team’s best chance to clinch their first title since 1993, and the manager’s candid admission reveals that the pain of the loss is rooted not just in bad luck, but in a crucial, regretted detail.
