This Was a Huge Play in Game 1 of World Series

[@TimFrakes]

Your breakdown doesn’t give us a “little” insight. This gives us a ton of insight. You give us a much deeper understanding about the beauty of baseball in wonderful detail.

[@cgeorge3785]

I also like how he recognizes what a huge play that was for Shohei and the Dodgers. If Shohei hadn't run to third base and instead held at second, no tie. It clearly shifted the momentum, kept the game close, and set up the heroics by Freeman for the win. The Shohei haters continue to insult him for supposedly not doing anything in the world series. They conveniently forget this play, and that he badly injured his left shoulder in game 2 which clearly affected his swing mechanics and confidence.

[@MH-Tesla]

I wish you did these videos before my son was done playing baseball! But i still love them. When you understand the game, it's more fun to watch

[@johnhodge5871]

"The more you watch, the more you see." The more I watch your videos, the more I see. I've noticed that since I started watching this channel, I'm seeing stuff I didn't see before. Thanks!

[@AntonelliBaseball]

@@johnhodge5871 good stuff!! Thanks!

[@TonyCrenshawsLatte]

Rizzo definitely should’ve done _something_ other than just hanging out on the 1B. Everyone else’s movement had a purpose, even if it was not well executed like Gleyber. Rizzo didn’t trail Shohei, nor did he back up any play. He just stood there.

[@IRanOutOfPhrases]

I'm here from the game 5 teoscar double video. Rizzo stays put there too. Has to be "by design" I guess.

[@TonyCrenshawsLatte]

@@IRanOutOfPhrases Yeah, I saw that too. Very odd. As a Dodger fan though, I appreciate it lol

[@johnnyc457]

@@IRanOutOfPhrases Maybe the Yankees told him to do that because of some soreness or injury. Rizzo looked terrible at first base all postseason.

[@IRanOutOfPhrases]

@@johnnyc457 he goes into some other details about other things that seem to be odd in their play that are not at all standard. Hard to say whats happening there. Even if Rizzo's glove isnt what it used to be (i have no odea), I'd find it hard to believe he is failing in stuff like this. He's cerebral enough to make sure he's going where he's assigned. Given Yanks other oddities, I'm willing to blame coaching first.

[@411bvRGiskard]

Yankees never emphasize fundamentals, per Dodgers scouting report.

[@YamzYamzAndMoreYamz]

Potentially series defining play. If Shohei doesn’t take those free 90 feet, maybe no sac fly to tie, maybe Freddie doesn’t completely demoralize the Yankees in the 10th, maybe the Dodgers have no momentum going into game 2.

[@scullystie4389]

This is why I love the World Series, every play becomes so important and it's not just about skill or individual matchups, but also the consequences of little mistakes like this. As a fan you just have to hope everything lines up a little better for your guys than the other guys!

[@royhoward38]

Rizzo has to do something on this play . If he was anywhere near second or the mound Ohtani doesn't advance . The Yankees seem to be fundamentally unsound

[@ibperson7765]

Yeah. And the narrative a lot of places is they got hammered in a landslide. But if sound defense, NY almost surely wins game 1, and even more surely wins game 5. Series is then 3-2 NY.

[@hcrubjeff]

Matt you should do this analysis with plays where they do the play correctly. Seeing all the players and their responsibilities is good stuff.

[@AntonelliBaseball]

@@hcrubjeff I believe I do have one in our baseball iq playlist

[@scullystie4389]

Thanks for the wide view here and thanks for also including some of the closer shots from the broadcast, it's a big improvement. I know a lot of hate went on Gleyber for the missed catch but now I know Rizzo also deserves some demerits for not properly reading the play. If he's backing things up, Shohei probably thinks twice about taking 3rd.

[@obrohta22]

As a former college 1B, the first thing I said was "Where's Rizzo? He should be trailing. He's gotta be standing over there doing nothing." Great breakdown!

[@alexsakon]

this was very educational, thanks

[@unclestinky6388]

Torres needs to move up a few feet and catch that ball on the fly to keep it from getting past him. Identical to how a 1B might need to come off the bag to keep an errant throw in front of him

[@espoton]

How about Rizzo moving towards second inside Shohei. He's just standing there twiddling his thumbs. If he moves up he can pick up the ball and prevent Shohei from going to third.

[@cwj9202]

Good points, Matt. It also looks like Soto mis-judged the ball off the bat, thus preventing him from catching the line drive ball at the fence.

[@crusher0427]

Absolutely! Soto should have caught the ball.

[@jefferyshall]

Yes the second baseman not moving his feet was an issue, but the first baseman not moving ANYWHERE was THE issue on this play.

[@timisaac8121]

Great vid TY. Love the long view to see everyone- I would have missed most of this: 1b, 2b especially but also: There is P backing up 3. Nice work my friend

[@ru40342]

I am surprised Rizzo did not get any blame at all for this play. Obviously Torres is the main problem but Rizzo should at least be somewhere near the mount or the second base and it he was there, Shohei would not be able to go to third.

[@IRanOutOfPhrases]

Was just watching the double from teoscar in game 5, and Rizzo does the same thing. Seems to be his assignment is to do nothing, lol

[@shawnbrennan7526]

Great point about 1B. I was just amazed that CF didn’t go for the catch at the wall.

[@thorrfgump]

It'd be great to get your insight on a strange looking play by Rizzo from game 1, top of the 10th. Runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Rizzo the runner on 1st. The batter hits a grounder to short that the shortstop has trouble with. Instead of running hard to 2nd and sliding, Rizzo slows down and stops 10 feet in front of 2nd base. He might have beaten the throw to 2nd if he would have tried, but he just gave himself up. It looked like just a lazy play, but I'm wondering if there's a reason since none of his teammates chewed him out afterwards.

[@lmabacus404]

He gave himself up to make sure the run scored. Since he can't see Chisholm, he doesn't know if he might've tripped, so he dangles a juicy out to make sure Edman only gets him out. Also, by standing on the basepaths instead of sliding, he also interferes with Lux potentially getting a double play. In hindsight he definitely could've taken second, and probably should've once he saw how much trouble Edman was having; no way he has time to get Chisholm out at that point.

[@brianmccully3040]

Great job. I didn’t have this view, obviously, but I basically said the same thing to my son. And as a cutoff man you have to stop the ball. You cannot let the ball get away from you, at any level.

[@fostermatt80]

I see so many people blaiming Torres but I feel like 50% of the issue was Rizzo not backing up either.

[@MwD676]

Rizzo got caught being a spectator.

[@briangulley6027]

Should have been a single, RF miss played it to begin with, no one covered second, yes it looked like a clear double but with the outfield so deep they got to the ball very quickly making a play at second possible, first baseman should have bought a ticket as he just watched the action, second baseman reminded me of me the way he booted that throw, runner was in celebration mode and didn't notice the ball got away at first. All in all, a very unprofessional play. Something you often see in low level slow pitch softball.

[@JobiWan144]

0:26 I cranked the video resolution all the way up to 1080p, and I still can't see the ball

[@AntonelliBaseball]

@@JobiWan144 I wish I could help, but this is as clear as I can get the video. It’s a high view and it’s as clear as all the other angles

[@JobiWan144]

@@AntonelliBaseball Understandable. Visually highlighting the ball or describing its location in voice-over is sufficient for me

[@GSB_KD]

I thought this was bad till I saw the 5th inning last night 😭😭😭

[@jasonleetaiwan]

Is it the first baseman’s responsibility to backup or the SS?

[@geraldponce8336]

Good insights. Middle infield is not my area of expertise. Couch / bleacher analyst for sure. Lol. I do the same thing. My baseball mind is always cliquing. My thoughts were the same. Why didn't Glayber block it? Kinda a big deal in the outfield to never ever let a ball get by. Put a knee down, turn into a catcher, and put the body in front of it. There were a few points of interest. Tommy Edman had a rough night, but those balls were absolutely smashed. Trinien's spin rate and speed on his breaking stuff was insane. Has Judge been putting too much pressure on himself or has he just not been getting good pitches to hit. Lastly was Freeman's home run was a lot like Soto's game winner. Right in his wheelhouse. Down and in. Freeman is the type of hitter I would want to pitch up and down. Fastballs up breaking stuff down. Exciting stuff. I don't have cable, but I'll be listening to it on the radio and checking highlights on my phone. MLB couldn't ask for a better fall classic. Great for baseball. Pitching was great right up until the end. Not sure if that was the best idea plugging a guy who hasn't pitched in a month in that situation? And yes fundamentals fundamentals.. I've won 4 championships. The first was hardest. 37 years old. I played my heart out for it.

[@mrlafayette1964]

I'm thinking Wells should have moved up to the mound area just in case but yeah Torres should have made sure to keep him at 2nd by either moving up to catch it or just squaring up and body blocking it.

[@Mitten4371]

Yea also you have to know the strength of the outfielders arm as well because usually the right fielder and centerfielder has the strongest arm. But also as an outfielder you are taught that if this ball was going to hit off the wall to play it off the wall because if you go back on the ball and it hits off the wall. Well the ball can hit off the wall and roll back towards the infield and with Ohtani's speed that's the last thing that you want to happen as an outfielder. But you also have to know whose running and what type of speed that they have as well

[@paulpinball9952]

To me, from the advantageous crow's-nest view, the 1b coach looked more demonstrative than 3b coach in urging Ohtani to charge from 2b to 3b.

[@aznpikachu215]

Looked like they were JOGGING to get that ball.

[@mrlafayette1964]

Soto misreads it, he cuts straight over to his right for a few steps then cuts towards the fence, it would have been a real tough catch similar to Judges where he went into the fence but it could have been made...providing Soto had the will to go into the fence like that which I do doubt.

[@cjchamp3]

I can't believe Soto keeps getting nominated for a gold glove. That should have been caught.

[@TheFam233]

@MattAntonelli, question: if Shohei remained at 2B, would the outfield have been playing as deep (no doubles D) for Betts. My thought would be that IF Ohtani was on 2B, OF would be defending the run scoring on any shallow hit. If that would have been the scenario/alignment then Betts’ hit would have gone over Judge in CF. Just a thought but was curious if Ohtani would n 2B would have changed where Judge was in CF.

[@jeremycanna6583]

I have a bit of a strange question -- should the left fielder have just stayed put as he did? I mean I would never expect him to get near the baseball on this particular play but I would think that once the ball was thrown back toward the infield that he might at least take a few steps toward the infield to be in a position to help in case of some errant throw. Or am I overthinking it?

[@bruceboman9801]

Obviously, Freddie's grand salami dinger was the clincher, but the facts are the Dodgers just plain play better fundamentally sound, baseball. All year, the Yankees defense gets sloppy. The adage, pitching and defense, wins championships. More runs helps a lot too. 😊 This from a freaking Padres follower. Not a Dodgers fan at all. Love well played game though.

[@BIOHAZARDRUSGaming]

Why does the catcher not hang out around the mound? He has access to go to second, third or home depending on the need.

[@jerseywalcott6408]

Fat Rizzo covers the Buffet.

[@see8chsee]

When I saw this play, the first thing I thought of was why is the 1B not trailing the runner, then I thought Matt is going to break this down.

[@MwD676]

Had Rizzo trailed, he might have been in position to back up the deflected throw.

[@dentonyoung4314]

Gleyber has to field that throw cleanly or at least smother it so Ohtani can't advance.

[@MikeHart72]

If Rizzo wasn’t hanging around 1st watching Ohtani run this would have turned out differently

[@ChrisWheelerEngineering]

Am I the only one who noticed Torres took his eye off the ball to check Ohtani sliding into second? Shouldn’t he be securing the ball first?

[@ryanstockdale1678]

I think risso should have trailed the run and then backed up the throw to second

[@bakerman10]

From the high angle, I wish you're follow the ball with some kind of pointer. I can never see it in your videos.

[@BrandonKClark86]

You need to send this to rich eisen haha

[@nelsolizarraga]

Little League defense. Gleyber has to do whatever it takes to keep that ball in front of him. I coached a little & would tell the kids that are not paying attention that you should be moving on every pitch & on every play . Rizzo was just standing there playing with butterflies like he never played baseball.

[@cjmp11]

Love your analysis. But this one hundred percent was on rizzo. The base runner had passed him, and he was out of the play yet stood still at first

[@MyerheadsCards]

Take away Rizzo's gold glove!! Terribly lax on his part.

[@NJPoolboy]

does anybody else have the logo and the next video pop up halfway through the vid they're watching? Seems like youtube is doing it more and more

[@danad5479]

Seems like the first baseman was just watching and should have backed up someone.

[@BarbYork-w2h]

Bone head by Yankees. I told my buddies before series started, bone heads base running, and lazy defense will coast pin stripes in this series

[@Wo1fLarsen]

Rizzo tweaked. Gleybar needs to know the runner. Ohtani can fly.

[@M2020-s5x]

Rizzo was a lazy dog and they should have made him pay for a ticket on that play. If he does anything but standstill there is a good chance Ohtani doesn’t go to third. Not Championship baseball

[@StevenBLevy]

Why is the first baseman not trailing the runner? This whole think looks like the Yankees thinking they just simply outslug everyone.

[@EarnestWilliamsGeofferic]

Another typical Yankee. $600,000 wasn't enough to get this guy to take half a stride forward.

[@jmac03191961]

I think someone yelled to Otani to go to third, as he was celebrating being on second, do you agree? LIkely the third base coach

[@cathyl6620]

Several Dodgers players were waving and yelling at Shohei to go to the third.

[@GCN-r1u]

this is why torres will not be back as a yankee. he is a terrible fielder. came up as a shortstop. moved to 2nd ok then moved to shortstop for a year. he was terrible. then back at second 17 errors worst in mlb. he can make great plays. but makes errors on easy and basic plays. he made the same error during the regular season. he is a free agent for the marlins.

[@d-man117]

soto is dumb and lazy 😆