FORT MYERS, Fla. — Few players reported to spring training this week more eager for a fresh start than new Red Sox utility-man Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Last October, the Blue Jays were as close to a championship as a team can be: Game 7, the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth, a chance to walk off and bring Toronto its first World Series trophy since 1993. Then, Daulton Varsho grounded a ball to Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas, and the throw to catcher Will Smith was just in time to nail the pinch-running Kiner-Falefa. Upon review, the force-out was upheld. Ernie Clement flew out to end the inning, and the Dodgers won it all in the 11th. Though far from the Blue Jays’ only misstep in one of the most exquisite tug-of-war Fall Classics in recent memory – a series which included an 18-inning Game 3 that matched the Dodgers and Red Sox’s record-breaking stalemate in 2018 – it’s the moment fans, media members, even then-Jays bench coach Don Mattingly pinpointed as the difference between triumph and heartbreak. Notably absent from the conversation was the man himself. Kiner-Falefa weighed in at last on Tuesday, after his one-year Red Sox contract became official. “It was a long offseason,” he admitted. “I learned so much through that run, about the emotions and the way things can swing in a series, and to go seven games in the ALCS and the World Series, you can’t get that…

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Few players reported to spring training this week more eager for a fresh start than new Red Sox utility-man Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Last October, the Blue Jays were as close to a championship as a team can be: Game 7, the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth, a chance to walk off and bring Toronto its first World Series trophy since 1993. Then, Daulton Varsho grounded a ball to Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas, and the throw to catcher Will Smith was just in time to nail the pinch-running Kiner-Falefa. Upon review, the force-out was upheld. Ernie Clement flew out to end the inning, and the Dodgers won it all in the 11th. Though far from the Blue Jays’ only misstep in one of the most exquisite tug-of-war Fall Classics in recent memory – a series which included an 18-inning Game 3 that matched the Dodgers and Red Sox’s record-breaking stalemate in 2018 – it’s the moment fans, media members, even then-Jays bench coach Don Mattingly pinpointed as the difference between triumph and heartbreak. Notably absent from the conversation was the man himself. Kiner-Falefa weighed in at last on Tuesday, after his one-year Red Sox contract became official. “It was a long offseason,” he admitted. “I learned so much through that run, about the emotions and the way things can swing in a series, and to go seven games in the ALCS and the World Series, you can’t get that…

Continue reading →