Ex-Blue Jays fan favorite has fervent defense of controversial IKF World Series play

The 2025 World Series has about a million different scenarios where players and fans are going to second guess the decisions that were made as the Toronto Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the series in a 5-4 defeat to the Dodgers in 11 innings. One of those scenarios that is drawing a lot of attention is Blue Jays utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa's late slide into home plate on a groundball that was hit to second base.

Kiner-Falefa was less than an inch away from the plate when Dodgers catcher Will Smith's foot touched home, just on the corner of the plate, to secure the force out on the play. What is causing the controversy isn't the slide, or the placement of Smith's foot, but rather the start of the play where IKF may have been a little too close to the third base bag.

Kiner-Falefa's lead at third is being questioned and while some have died on the fence suggesting his lead wasn't big enough in that situation, others are coming to Kiner-Falefa's defense saying there were many reasons to justify how far he was off the bag.

Ex-Blue Jays fan favorite has fervent defense of controversial IKF World Series play

One of those coming to the aid of Kiner-Falefa is former Blue Jay Chris Colabello who was a part of the Blue Jays 2015 playoff run to the ALCS. Colabello took to twitter to defend IKF's actions in that crucial bottom of the ninth play.

His biggest take away is that regardless of Kiner-Falefa's lead, the play only appeared close because second baseman Miguel Rojas almost botched the play. Colabello says, "If Rojas doesn't slip, he throws him out by 14 feet, regardless of how good his lead and secondary were. The risk/reward there of being further off the base is so distorted, that it would have been egregious to even consider risking being even an inch further away from the bag.

As a matter of fact, I may have told whoever was on third to be no more than a step off the bag. I'm willing to bet that 99% of baserunners on third in that moment are having ZERO consideration of scoring on a ball that is fielded cleanly by an infielder. The fact that the play was even remotely close is so incredibly misleading."

Colabello does have a good point here. The Blue Jays lost Game 6 on a bad baserunning error that was avoidable when Addison Barger strayed too far off second base on a line drive that was caught in left field and was subsequently doubled off as he couldn't get back to the base on time. For IKF, he couldn't risk getting doubled off and any ground ball hit directly at an infielder was going to be tough to score on.

As a former major league player, Colabello says he and other former players really have no issue with how far off the bag IKF was. He says, "Scrutinizing this play to this length is so flawed, and fully takes away from how incredible the game and series were. The wild part about all of this is that every player and former player that I have seen comment on it, has absolutely no qualms with IKF's lead and/or secondary."

Meantime, another former Blue Jay, Whitt Merrifield, had a similar take. Merrifield was apart of the Blue Jays playoff runs in 2022 and '23 that ended in Wild Card series exits for Toronto. He says, "It is a caution-first play... You are not counting on the baserunner to create a run."

At the end of the day, IKF's run would have won the Blue Jays the World Series. But it's one of many, many plays over the last two games of the series that could have provided the Blue Jays with a different outcome.