Way-too-late change to IKF play will break Blue Jays fans’ hearts even further

It's a play that seemingly will haunt fans of the Toronto Blue Jays forever. Bottom of the ninth, Game 7 of the World Series, bases loaded with one out, game tied 4-4. The LA Dodgers had just tied the game in the top half of the ninth, but Toronto was threatening to win it all in their half.

Then it happened, one of the most debated and reviewed plays in World Series history. Daulton Varsho hits a ground ball to second base where Miguel Rojas bobbles it slightly, before straightening himself out, and throwing a strike to the dish just in time to get pinch runner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa out. It was a play that kept the series alive for the Dodgers, and a play that made the Blue Jays miss out on their first World Series title in three decades by about three inches...or was it?

Way-too-late change to IKF play will break Blue Jays fans’ hearts even further

A recent review of the play now details that IKF was out by several feet before getting home, not by just a few inches. An official report from MLB clarified the play and told the Associated Press, "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."

This means that even though Smith's foot slightly came off the plate for a second, that part of the play never actually mattered, in a definitive sense, as IKF was already forced out the moment Smith had the ball to begin with.

This doesn't change the way Blue Jays will feel about the play. In fact it might fuel their anger a little more considering it proves what many had said all along, that IKF's lead at third wasn't big enough. When the play was decided by a few inches it's easy to suggest that, but now that it's been revealed that he was out by a few feet, it further's the idea that he clearly didn't have a big enough lead to get to the plate.

Former Blue Jays coach Don Mattingly spoke during the offseason about the play and says the blame lies within the coaching staff to not recognize that IKF could have had a much bigger lead at third. Yes, they were cognizant of him not getting picked off, but Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy wasn't close to third base during the Varsho at bat, and it's also very unlikely that IKF could have gotten doubled off on a line drive as Varsho barely hit the ball to the left side of the infield that season.

The Blue Jays had their chances, many of them, to win the World Series but this play, no matter how many times it's reviewed or changed, the outcome will stay the same. They came within inches...well, now three feet, of winning the World Series in this moment and until they finish the job it will be a moment that haunts the players, and the fans.