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Incredible new angle of Juan Soto ALCS-winning homer shows Cleveland fans melting

Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Yanks Go Yard

Championship Series - New York Yankees v Cleveland Guardians - Game 4 / Maddie Meyer/GettyImages

If you're a New York Yankees diehard like me, I trust that you've already watched Juan Soto's extra-inning three-run homer in Game 5 of the ALCS at least 25 times. But if you haven't caught it from this particular angle, you're really missing out.

Soto's at-bat, which ostensibly sent the Yankees to the World Series (Luke Weaver has that dawg in him, even against the top of the Guardians' order), was a masterclass in pitcher baiting. Hunter Gaddis had no interest in throwing Soto a fastball; Soto had no interest in letting a world-class changeup get past him after called strike one. He was clearly prepared to flick every offspeed pitch into foul territory until Gaddis gave in.

"Give in" he did, trying to climb the ladder and meet Bo Naylor's glove with a heater. Instead, the fastball -- which only reached 95 MPH rather than Gaddis' previous highs of 98-99 -- ticked the top of the zone, and Soto submitted it for the approval of the fans in the stands.

The road warriors might've enjoyed it, but this new angle behind home plate shows the full scope of the Guardians' crowd getting deflated in real time. You can pinpoint the exact moment that each and every fan's heart breaks, shatters, and dissolves. Immaculate work.

Yankees star Juan Soto deflating entire stadium of Cleveland fans with World Series berth clinching home run is incredible

This is the sound of 40,000 people realizing in unison that they're going to have to watch the Cleveland Browns tomorrow.

The Guardians have a devoted fanbase filled with some of the most knowledgeable and patient supporters in all of baseball. Somehow, not one of those people filled a single seat in Games 3-5 of this series. Instead, we were left with thousands of people wearing Chief Wahoo gear, rocking freshly made Chief Wahoo signs, and googling "Where to Get Street Sign for Man Cave That Says Chief Wahoo Lane (Also Pics of Hot Women Changing Oil)". Throughout the entire series, you could detect an extra, unsettling level of vitriol directed towards Soto's showman antics. Needless to say, it felt extremely good to see him, specifically, clam up the entire crowd. This angle really highlighted the exact perfect moment.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.