Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
THIS IS THE GET IN THE GAME PODCAST
WITH SCOTT LINEBRINK
Over an 18-year career with the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers, Trevor Hoffman cemented his place as one of the best pitchers ever to close out games. His 601 saves are second all time and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.
He was selected to seven All-Star Games, won the National League Relief Man Award twice and was the NL leader in saves in 1998 and 2006. He and Scott Linebrink were teammates in San Diego, and Hoffman returns to Linebrink’s “Get in the Game” show to catch up and reminisce on his career and what made him successful.
The Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after winning the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The wait is over at last for the city of Milwaukee. After 57 years, it finally has a World Series champion after the Brewers finished off the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5, winning 4-1 Wednesday night to clinch the series.
Milwaukee was one of the best teams in baseball all season and set a franchise record with an MLB-best 103 wins. Then the Brewers stormed through the postseason, sweeping the two-time defending-champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, and they were three outs away from sweeping the Rays too before Tampa Bay orchestrated a come-from-behind win in the 12th inning of Game 4.
Milwaukee was powered by talent up and down the roster, but was held together by a strong bond that resembled a family feel, reliever Aaron Ashby told Fox after the game. Including Ashby, this Brewers team was made up of a core group of believers who are outspoken about their faith in Jesus.
“I wouldn’t be here without that,” Ashby told CBN Sports before the series started. “It’s such a special thing to me and my family, our faith. To be able to really rely on that in these moments has been so cool. The amount of peace that I didn’t think I would feel but I do feel has been overwhelming and undeniable. To have that cornerstone foundation for myself has been the most important thing this postseason.”
The World Series MVP honors went to catcher William Contreras, who went 8-for-21 at the plate with four RBIs, two runs, a stolen base and four runners caught stealing. He also managed Milwaukee’s star-studded pitching staff, which held the Rays to two runs or fewer in three of the five games.
But Ashby made a strong case for MVP as well — so much so that Fox’s Kevin Burkhardt asked if he wanted to share the honors with Contreras. Ashby politely declined, saying Contreras deserved all the praise, but his own numbers spoke for themselves. Ashby appeared in three World Series games for the Brewers, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts, no walks and just one hit allowed. He pitched 2.1 of those innings in Game 4, striking out three batters and extending his postseason scoreless streak to 18 innings, the longest by any reliever in playoff history.
When asked by CBN Sports what the name of Jesus means to him, Ashby said, “An unbelievable amount of grace and love that we aren’t deserving of but we’re given because of His graceful love for us.”
Second baseman Brice Turang also played a key role in the World Series, going 6-for-19 with two RBIs and three runs scored. He recorded the championship-clinching putout and, like Ashby, has been outspoken about his Christian faith. He lists Psalm 37:5 in his Instagram bio.
“I’m so blessed to be in this situation, to have the family that I have,” Turang told CBN Sports. “Being with the team that drafted me, everything is just a blessing for me. The highs and lows of life and just being able to love Him every day, and the amount of grace and forgiveness that He gives us, I wouldn’t be here without Him.”
Center fielder Garrett Mitchell — who has a “Keep the Faith” tattoo and Jeremiah 29:11 tattoo — started all five games in the World Series and made most of his impact in the field rather than at the plate, but he logged three hits and drove in two runs. Before the series, he opened up about how he’s trusted God through his battle with diabetes and injuries.
“Not that mine’s any more special than anyone else’s, I think we all go through challenges in life that show up in a lot of different ways. It’s mental, it’s physical,” Mitchell told CBN Sports. “For me, my journey is just continuing to keep my head up and persevere through diabetes, through injuries. For me, I just know that God has a plan and He gives challenges to His warriors and those He believes can handle it. So I just continue to try to keep my head up and keep pushing forward because if I don’t, no one else is going to do it for me.”
Dustin May, who was traded to Milwaukee from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, made the start for the Brewers in Game 4 and pitched three innings with three strikeouts and two earned runs allowed. After starting his career as highly touted prospect for the Dodgers, he missed the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery and an esophageal tear. He was then traded to the Boston Red Sox during the 2025 season before signing with the Cardinals ahead of this season.
He’s been through a lot both on and off the field, and those trials have helped him mature in his faith.
“My faith with the Lord has grown a lot over the past couple of years, just because I feel like I’ve had to put so much more on His plate,” May told CBN Sports. “And He’s delivered in every moment — being able, for one, to keep a jersey on my back and giving me the ability to come back year in and year out. To be able to be here with my wife, who’s been by my side and seeing the lows that I’ve been in. It’s definitely incredible.”
MLB now heads into an offseason where a new collective bargaining agreement will be negotiated, and there have been talks that a lockout is possible, meaning the start of the 2027 season could be delayed if an agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association isn’t reached. But whenever baseball returns, the Brewers and their core group of believers figure to be squarely in the conversation for championship contenders once again.
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca connects for an RBI single in the 12th inning of Game 4, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Center fielder Jonny DeLuca said last week he hopes the World Series provides a platform for people to see God through how he plays. Thanks in large part to his game-tying base hit in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 4 on Tuesday, he and the Tampa Bay Rays will have at least one more game to do just that.
Shortly after DeLuca’s RBI single, Ben Williamson chopped a base hit into right field with the bases loaded, scoring Nick Fortes and helping the Rays come back to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3, and stave off elimination. Milwaukee leads the series, 3-1.
After both bullpens hung zeroes for six straight innings, Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt hit a solo home run in the top of the 12th inning to break the deadlock and give the Brewers a 3-2 lead, putting them just three outs away from a sweep and the franchise’s first-ever World Series win. Instead, the two teams will meet Wednesday night for Game 5 again in Tampa as the Rays stay in pursuit of their first World Series title.
“Today, we’ve just been playing so free,” DeLuca told reporters after the game. “Go out there, there’s really nothing to lose. So go out there, balls to the wall and compete. … It’s a special opportunity that we have. We’re going to take it one day at a time and be in the moment.”
With the win, Tampa Bay became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to win Game 4. The Rays also ended an eight-game winning streak by the Brewers, who were looking to become just the second team to sweep a League Championship Series and the World Series.
DeLuca was just 2-for-11 at the plate in the World Series heading into Game 4, and he had just the one hit in five at-bats Tuesday night. But he made it count. While the bat hasn’t been as hot, he’s played solid defense throughout the series for the Rays.
DeLuca is in his fourth major league season and third with the Rays after playing his rookie year with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 27-year-old batted .266 with 11 home runs, 50 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in a career-high 112 regular-season games this year. He collected four hits, drove in three runs and stole a base against the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Championship Series.
Through it all, he’s been guided by God.
“It’s a blessing to be here and I owe it all to Him,” DeLuca told CBN Sports before the World Series started. “I’m trying to give glory to Him as I play. It’s been a foundational part, having my identity be rooted in Jesus. This baseball game is super fun and it’s rewarding, but it’s a very bad god and it’s going to disappoint you every time. So being able to put my faith and trust in Jesus, it gives me a lot of peace. I’m just very blessed and thankful.”
He recently told Travel Chapel that he accepted Christ at age 11, but it took him a while to fully grasp everything about the Christian faith. At age 16, he suffered a serious injury playing baseball and had to have part of his kidney removed. That was a pivotal moment for him to realize that anything can happen and he’s not in control of his life.
Now, his faith “means everything” to him.
“Growing up in a Christian home, being able to go to church and worship God at an early age has been foundational for me,” he told CBN Sports. “Having pastors and teachers and people pouring into my life, praying for me, encouraging me, has been so huge. And obviously that’s the biggest part of my life.”
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a World Series, but the Rays will look to keep their hopes alive with a Game 5 win to continue that pursuit.
For DeLuca, winning a World Series would be an incredible accomplishment. Getting the chance to play Major League Baseball and compete on the sport’s biggest stage was always something he dreamed of, just like virtually any other baseball player. But even reaching that pinnacle doesn’t guarantee the fulfillment he once expected.
“There’s still an emptiness of like, ‘Oh, this is it. There should have been more,'” he told Travel Chapel. “So you’re kind of expecting more there. And that’s a perfect lead-in to that Christ will fully satisfy you.”
DeLuca said that doesn’t mean he wants to stop working hard or making the most of the opportunities God has given him. Rather, his faith reminds him that his ultimate hope isn’t tied to what he can accomplish on a baseball field.
“Obviously, you want to work hard and you want to use what the Lord has given you,” he told Travel Chapel. “But at the same time, the Gospel is completely contrary to that in that the work has been done on the cross, and now we get to have the blessing of receiving Christ in our life and the blessing of not necessarily living an easy life, but having the hope of eternal life with Jesus.”
First pitch for Wednesday’s Game 5 is set for 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field, with the game being broadcast on Fox.
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
It’s fitting that pitcher Drew Rasmussen will start at some point for the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. After the season and postseason he’s had, he’s become Tampa’s ace. But for him, the reasons for why this is so meaningful go far deeper than just baseball.
He credits his strong faith in God for enduring the arduous, injury-riddled, somewhat roundabout journey between both organizations.
The Rays drafted him in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Oregon State, but he failed his physical and never signed. He suffered an elbow injury in 2016 that required Tommy John surgery, but returned in 2017 to pitch in eight games and make four starts.
That was enough to convince the Rays to select him, but a subsequent physical revealed that his elbow wasn’t quite fully healthy. Instead of starting his pro career, he needed another Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in September 2017. He missed the entire 2018 season while rehabbing and didn’t have a chance to pitch again to help his draft stock.
“I would say 2017 was when it really hit me that everything the world promises to you is temporary. It’s fleeting,” Rasmussen said recently in a video with Travel Chapel. “There’s no long-term joy. When you lean on the things of this earth, you’re just going to find empty promises. They might bring you momentary happiness, but it’s not everlasting joy.”
He was crushed when he had to go back to school, but the next two years allowed him to mature in his faith.
Even though he grew up going to church and youth group every week, he wouldn’t have considered himself a “man of faith” or someone “searching after God” when he arrived at Oregon State. One of the campus leaders for Fellowship of Christian Athletes started pouring into Rasmussen regularly during his freshman year, inviting him to his house and other events, but Rasmussen said he doesn’t remember taking him up on an offer even one time.
But during his sophomore year, Rasmussen got more curious about God and started digging into the Bible at the “ground level.” Then the first injury came.
“I do think God does a lot of His best work in your life when things are going poorly,” Rasmussen told Travel Chapel.
That injury and the second elbow surgery, along with the disappointment about not being able to make the jump to the pros, is what led him to dive even deeper into his faith.
Despite the injury and time away from the mound, the Brewers drafted Rasmussen in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. He returned to the mound and spent all of 2019 in the minor leagues. He then made his MLB debut in August 2020 during the COVID-shortened season, appearing in 12 games and posting a 5.87 ERA with 21 strikeouts across 15.1 innings pitched.
He started the 2021 season in the bullpen, but the Brewers traded him to the Rays in May 2021. It was disorienting for both him and his wife, Stevie, whom he married in 2020. The Brewers were all they knew in pro ball, and they loved the people in the organization.
“It’s funny looking back on things. What can seem so hard in a moment, God is actually using for something significantly better,” Rasmussen said.
He’s since found a home with the Rays. He’s been selected to the American League All-Star team the last two seasons, and this year he’s been Tampa Bay’s ace all year long. He led the team with 16 wins and 174 strikeouts in the regular season — both career highs — and posted a 2.67 ERA. In the postseason, he leads the team with 21.0 innings pitched and 23 strikeouts to go with two wins and a 1.29 ERA. He won’t pitch Game 1, but will be plenty rested for Game 2 or 3.
But baseball aside, he’s also felt at home in the clubhouse and has connected deeply with team chaplains and his teammates.
“The guys in the clubhouse were exactly what I needed, and God knew He had to put me in the Tampa Bay organization to be surrounded by guys like Ryan Thompson, Jalen Beeks, the year later Jason Adam,” Rasmussen told Travel Chapel. “These are all great men of faith and people I aspire to be like. Although they’re teammates, they’re friends. They’re further on in their walk than I am, so He’s put me in a place where I’ve had great role models and people that are living out their faith on a daily basis.
“He took something my wife and I thought was so negative and He’s turned it into the biggest blessing and the biggest positive in our lives.”
Rasmussen pitched well in 2022 and was off to a good start in 2023 until an elbow injury required him to undergo an internal brace procedure, which ended his season after just eight starts. Before that, he could tell he was starting to “drift” spiritually. The forced slowdown of recovering from surgery allowed him and Stevie to grow even stronger in their faith.
“I think God truly used that time to just say, ‘Hey, look, I’m always here,'” Rasmussen said. “I’m not perfect. I’m nowhere near it. Thank God, because He’s accepting, and the gift of salvation is something I don’t deserve. As I started to drift, I think He put some guardrails in my life, and I think He’s done it two or three other times.”
Stevie even got baptized while he was rehabbing.
“Seeing her evolve is also one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Being here in Tampa has been unbelievable. And just the people we’ve been surrounded by here, it truly has been amazing. It’s been a blessing. Compared to the miracles of the Bible, I don’t know if you could call it that, but it’s a miracle for Stevie and I.”
Rasmussen and the Rays are on the road to start the World Series. Game 1 is set for 8 p.m. ET Friday on Fox.
Coach RAC speaks at a Sandlot Revival night in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 18, 2026. (Photo courtesy of SandlotRevival.org)
The inaugural Banana Bowl championship wrapped up on Saturday, the culminating matchup for the 2026 Banana Ball Championship League. The Savannah Bananas — whose fans-first, entertaining style of play spawned its own league — were in the game, but lost to the Texas Tailgaters, 2-1, in front of 41,000 people at Nationals Park, home of the MLB’s Washington Nationals.
That fact — that the league’s flagship team didn’t win the championship — is the biggest differentiator between this baseball phenomenon and the Harlem Globetrotters, the longtime basketball entertainers so many critics compare the Bananas to. Globetrotters games are scripted for Harlem to win; Bananas games are not scripted — aside from the singing and dancing — and feature actual competition.
And Banana Ball is continuing its rise. The Bananas first began this style of play by playing against the Party Animals in 2023, then the Firefighters joined Banana Ball in 2024, followed by the Tailgaters in 2025. This year, the Loco Beach Coconuts and Indianapolis Clowns joined the league.
The largest crowd in Banana Ball history — 102,000 — took place May 2 at Kyle Field, the football stadium on the campus of Texas A&M. And just a couple weeks later they played in front of 101,000 at Neyland Stadium, home of Tennessee football. Banana Ball games were also played this year in NFL stadiums and the most iconic MLB venues. In all, the Bananas visited 21 cities — including their home in Savannah, Georgia — and all six teams played 64 games apiece in 2026. The league will announce its 2027 cities on Thursday.
21 cities. 64 games. Infinite memories. What. A. Season. 💛
To every one of you that showed up, sang along, danced with us, and made us feel so at home in cities across the country, thank you. You're the reason we get to do what we love and you made this season one we'll never… pic.twitter.com/MflZ2Dt09C
But what’s happening on the field isn’t as eternally significant as what’s taking place off the field. While the massive popularity of the Bananas and their competitors is bringing newfound fame to many of the players, a large number of those guys are using their platforms to glorify God.
As the teams toured through the U.S. in the summer of 2024, a group of Christ-followers began meeting for weekly Bible study. What started with five or six guys sitting in a coffee shop grew to 40 or 50 people meeting in someone’s house. Then God planted the idea of public worship nights outside Grayson Stadium in Savannah, so, led by left fielder RobertAnthony Cruz, they held three nights of worship open to anyone.
That left Cruz — better known as Coach RAC — with a desire to take the worship nights on the road. So this summer, he and a college friend, Mehki Key, launched Sandlot Revival. It’s not affiliated with the Bananas, but is driven by Cruz and some teammates.
“Last year, I feel like God put it on some of our hearts to start hosting public worship nights in addition to our team Bible study that we do behind the scenes,” RAC told Sports Spectrum during the team’s stop in Denver in August. “So we had two worship nights during the summer last year, and then we ended up having one in the fall.
“And this year, God just opened some doors, and a friend of mine, Mehki, he organized these worship nights all over the country in a bunch of different cities. So pretty much every city we go to, we’ll play either Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but the night before we’ll have a worship night partnering with a local church in that city.”
At each stop, Key joins with the church’s band to lead attendees in a time of worship and praise, and then one of the players shares his testimony. Often it’s one of the Bananas players, but guys from other teams share as well.
“I was kind of nervous because it’s the first time I’ve ever shared my testimony,” said Ty Jackson, one of RAC’s longtime teammates. “But [RAC] was like, ‘You know what, just let God speak through you, and it’s your testimony, however the Lord has impacted you.’ And it was such a blessing. It’s the first time I ever did it and it’s hard to talk about. You know, everybody’s testimony is different, and my testimony was very emotional. But at the end of the day, people in the crowd were going through the same things I went through and it brought a smile to my face that they could come talk to me about it. It was truly a blessing.”
Following the testimony, Coach RAC takes the stage to share a message and present the Gospel. While playing baseball at Biola University — a Christian school in La Mirada, California — he was a Christian ministries major with a Biblical studies minor. He had a short stint in rookie ball with the Washington Nationals after college, but is now Banana Ball’s de facto chaplain.
“When I was really little I thought I wanted to be a pastor, when I was 5 years old, but didn’t really think much about it after that,” RAC told Sports Spectrum. “… I don’t think it’s my desire to really necessarily be a pastor of a church. We’ll see what God has planned, but in the meantime though, to be able to articulate the Gospel to the best of my ability every week has been a blessing.”
Following RAC’s sermon, the audience is offered a chance to come up for prayer. Along with some church staff, any players in attendance stand in front of the stage and pray over anyone who asks.
“The prayer time from players is awesome,” said Easton Parrish, who’s in his first year with the Bananas. “I get to see a lot people truly become emotional because of whatever they’re going through, whatever prayer they might receive. It’s been fruitful for me. When we first started doing that, I did not go out and pray over other people because I didn’t feel like I could; I didn’t feel like I was a very good prayer guy. But I’ve probably gotten more out of praying for others than they’ve gotten from me praying over them.”
Also in his first year on the team is JT Sokolove, who at 23 is the youngest on the team. He was asked to share his testimony twice at a Sandlot Revival, and has been inspired by hearing his teammates or opponents share their stories as well. Since the teams most often play or travel on Sundays, he said the worship nights have been like church services for him and the other players.
“Seeing city to city, thousands of people come together to praise the Lord — that’s our church because most of the time we’re playing on Sundays,” Sokolove told Sports Spectrum. “So being there and getting to go to our church service basically, and just feel the presence of God … alongside your brothers, it’s just special.”
Meanwhile, the Bible study that started this movement is still ongoing. Some players meet with just their own teams, some gather with other teams when they’re on the road together, and the groups can get rather large if all the teams are in Savannah together.
The players are having tons of fun and living a dream in many ways, but just like any believer knows, trials and tribulations still come in this life. So this band of Bananas keeps meeting to hold each other accountable and stay grounded on God’s Word.
“During the year, everyone is going through highs and lows at different times,” RAC said. “So to be able to meet consistently every week and center ourselves and remind ourselves God is on the throne and we are not the ones on the throne, that’s needed for all of us.”
