Blue Jays coaches should have challenged instead of lecturing Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the ninth inning of a close game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays, the stage is set for a crucial moment. The Blue Jays are clinging to a narrow lead, with runners on base and no outs. Toronto's star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on first base, poised to potentially score an important insurance run. Santander of the Orioles hits a deep fly ball to center field, and Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (known as O'Neal in the transcript) camps under it, making the catch. Guerrero Jr. tags up from first base and advances to second, a heads-up play that puts two runners in scoring position with no outs. The Blue Jays' announcers praise Guerrero Jr.'s smart baserunning, recognizing the strategic importance of his quick decision. However, the umpires then initiate a review, questioning whether Guerrero Jr. left first base too early. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde steps in to challenge the call, but after consulting with his staff, he ultimately decides to let the play stand, giving Guerrero Jr. the benefit of the doubt. Despite the Orioles' acknowledgment that Guerrero Jr. did nothing wrong, the Blue Jays' coaching staff, including manager John Schneider, begin to lecture the young star, implying that he may have left the base prematurely. Guerrero Jr. is visibly confused and frustrated, seeking support from his teammates and coaches, but finding none. The transcriber, known as , is outraged by the Blue Jays' treatment of their superstar, arguing that they should have simply accepted the umpire's decision and moved on. meticulously analyzes the play, providing multiple camera angles to demonstrate that Guerrero Jr. did, in fact, tag up properly and did not leave the base early. He expresses his disbelief that the Blue Jays' coaching staff failed to defend their player and instead chose to "gaslight him into believing it." The summary concludes with noting that the missed opportunity to score those runs could have been crucial, as the Blue Jays end up losing the game. He emphasizes that his defense of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was DraftKings, thanking them for allowing him to stand up for the young star when no one else would.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentThis defense of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is
brought to you by DraftKings. I tuned
into this game over the weekend because
it's the pajama game. You got the
Orioles, you got the Blue Jays, they
look like they're wearing pajamas. The
Orioles are horrible. There's two
runners on. There's no outs and the Blue
Jays are trying to add to their lead.
And I thought, "These jerseys caught my
eye. Let's tune in." And I watched maybe
two at bats. And this was one of the
ones I watched. We got a deep fly ball
from Santander. And O'Neal's going back.
He camps under it. He catches it. Vlatty
tags up from first to get to second,
which is huge because now the double
play, the inning ending ground ball
double play is not in order. You've got
two runners in scoring position. It's
just heads up, smart base running,
knowing where the outfielder is, knowing
the stadium dimensions, and knowing your
own speed. Even the away announcers were
impressed. Guerrero will tag as well. He
takes second on a smart bit of base
running. Yeah, very very smart base
running right there. Very very smart
base running. But wait, where are the
everyone's eyes going? Oh no, they're
appealing at first base. Step on first.
Um says, "Bam, you're out." And then
points at Vlatty who's like,
"What? What's going on, coach? Surely
it's a joke." Orioles get on their phone
to review it. And then Hyde is like,
"Oh, never mind. We're all good." He
gave the thumbs up. He's like, "Never
mind. We're all good." Vlatt's on second
base being like, "Wait, what? What are
you talking about? I didn't leave early.
I'm tired. I'm gassed." He's walking up.
No one's going to fight for me. First
base coach, you got my back. You surely
know I didn't leave early. Coaches, no
one. Okay. No, they're just pissed. The
timer ran out. They're trying to
explain. He's like, "Come on, man.
What's going on?" Turns to the third
base coach. He's like, "I didn't leave
early." He's like, "Don't tag." Yeah,
just don't tag. All right. Well, I mean
it I was safe and I didn't leave early
though. And then afterwards in the
dugout, he's like, I'm looking there
like my back is to the ump and
Schneider's like, "Yeah, but you kind of
like moved your body too soon." Get out
of here. Support your stud. He didn't
leave early and I've got grainy replays
to show you. Okay, right there. There's
a very grainy replay cuz they didn't
review it. So, we don't have better
replays. You can see if you're looking
at the outfielder, his hand starts to
come down because he caught the ball.
It's very grainy. Trust me. I spent a
lot of time on it and I'll show you
other angles that prove it too. And then
we're going to zoom
over and Vlad's on the bag. So, what are
we talking about? Then he
leaves. Nothing doing. Okay, here we go.
Now, do we all agree these are synced?
I'll go through it slowly. Do we agree
that these two angles are synced up? You
can look at the the runner uh Vlatt's
feet and you can see left foot down,
right foot down, left foot down, right
foot down. See, those are synced up. I
spent a lot of time syncing him up. And
we're going to see when the glove goes,
the ball goes in the glove. Uh, right
there. He's still on the
bag. He's still on the bag. So, this
video is just, this is in
defense of Vlatty. No one had his back.
Not a person. They just gas lit him into
believing it. And shout out to Adley who
he's the one behind the dish. I think it
was Adley catching for the uh I didn't
double check that and it's granny
footage. He's the one that calls it to
everyone's attention. He's like, "He's
left. He left. He left. He left. He
left." And the home plate dump is the
one that makes the call because first
base hump's got to watch the play in the
outfield. And you know, he's very
adamant about it. And then the ump is
like, "All right, well, if you're there,
you're there." You don't see that called
a lot. And I'm mad about it. Look what
happened is like Schneider is kind of
right. If you look at Vlatty right here
and you look at his movement, watch just
top right there. The ball is not caught
yet. There. I'll go back to this one's
the better angle of
it. The right, see his left foot, his
left foot, he turns to get going. The
ball is not caught yet. That's what
everyone saw once, but his right foot
stays on the back. Now the ball is in
the glove and now he
leaves. Now they ran out of time to
challenge it, but you could have said,
"Vlatt, we ran out of time to challenge
it, but we believe you." But no, the way
the whole dugout acted, it was as if
obviously he was wrong. You know, you
just can't do that. They were all
talking to him. He's going around
finding support anywhere. No one's
supporting him. Wh What the hell? I tune
in the pajama game and all of a sudden
I'm Vladimir Guerrero Jr's defense
attorney and trying to get him off and
everyone else just gaslighting him. Next
ball hit to like the same spot so they
don't score any runs. They end up losing
the game. Those runs would have been
important. This defense of Vladimir
Guerrero Jr. was brought to you by
DraftKings and thank you to them for
allowing me to do what no one else would
and stand up for Vlatty who did not
leave early. He tagged up beautifully.