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US military archbishop urges Catholic soldiers to refuse involvement in Army firing squad execution
Catholics serving in the Army should request to be excused from participating in the planned firing squad execution of a convicted Fort Hood mass shooter, which the Pentagon has proposed livestreaming, a prominent U.S. archbishop who oversees Catholic pastoral services for the military said on Monday.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio raised several objections to the Pentagon's unprecedented plan to broadcast the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist who was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood military base. Hasan, now 56, uses a wheelchair, after being shot by responding officers during the attack.
Hasan is set to be executed at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, at 1 p.m. CST, according to the U.S. Army, which would make him the first person to be executed by firing squad by the U.S. military since 1945. It would also mark the first U.S. military execution by any method since 1961. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said he wanted soldiers to execute Hasan at the time, day of the week and location of the shooting and has argued that making the execution public would help serve as a deterrent.
Broglio recalled presiding over the funeral of one of Hasan's victims, Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in that attack, and expressed sorrow over the deadly shooting. But the archbishop questioned whether the U.S. government wanted to "imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries."
Hasan's crime "was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?" Broglio asked in a statement.
"I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church," he continued.
Army regulations permit soldiers to seek religious exemptions or accommodations.
It is unclear how the military intends to select members for the firing squad.
"The U.S. military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world," Broglio said. "Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheelchair to the whole world?"
A U.S. government execution has never been broadcast to the public, making it an unprecedented plan that has drawn backlash from political and religious leaders.
Broglio joins other Catholic leaders in criticizing the Pentagon's plans to livestream the execution.
The head of the U.S. bishops conference, Archbishop Paul Coakley, expressed "shock" and "great sorrow" about the public execution plan and urged the U.S. to reconsider.
"In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered," he said in a statement on Friday. "The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people."
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, called the proposed broadcast "truly incomprehensible" and warned that it was "unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle."
"The Church’s position is one of total opposition to the death penalty; it is incompatible with human dignity and serves as no deterrent," Parolin told reporters on Friday.
According to the English translation published by Vatican News, Parolin said, "It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to use this method in this day and age. I do not know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle. However guilty the person may be, there are other ways."
Parolin added that the death penalty "is incompatible with human dignity and does not serve as a deterrent."
Pope Leo XIV reiterated the Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty as "inadmissible" in a social media post on Saturday marking World Day Against the Death Penalty.
Citing Catholic doctrine revised under his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo emphasized that the death penalty violates human dignity.
"The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption," Leo, the first American pope, wrote on X without specifically mentioning the Pentagon's execution plan for Hasan.
FORT HOOD SHOOTER SHOULD BE EXECUTED '13 TIMES OVER' — BUT NOT ON LIVE STREAM, SURVIVOR SAYS
President Donald Trump said Saturday he had not yet decided whether to allow the livestream plan to move forward, although he has reportedly expressed doubts in private about broadcasting the execution.
Vice President JD Vance, who is a Catholic, expressed skepticism about whether the Pentagon would proceed with a public execution. He said he would not watch the livestream if it were carried out.
Several lawmakers, including Republicans, have spoken out against plans to broadcast the execution.
"Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said on Thursday. "It should not be happening in America."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Protester punched in face by Trump supporter, mocked by president at Ohio rally: 'Gotta go on a diet'
A heckler wearing a "Release the Epstein Files" shirt was punched in the face by an apparent supporter of President Donald Trump during a rally Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, before the president mocked the protester's weight.
Trump was criticizing Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted after losing his Senate seat in 2024, when rally attendees shifted their attention toward a confrontation in the crowd.
Video of the confrontation showed a rallygoer who appeared to support Trump shoving the heckler and striking her in the face as the crowd chanted "USA!"
TRUMP TOUTS ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AT OHIO RALLY, URGES VOTERS TO DELIVER GOP MIDTERM WINS
The man also grabbed the woman by the hair and attempted to slam her face toward the ground.
Police eventually intervened and broke up the fight before escorting the woman out of the venue. Video showed the man who struck her remaining in the arena and exchanging high-fives with other attendees.
Trump appeared to notice the disruption and accused the protester of being paid to interrupt the rally, although he offered no evidence to support the allegation. He also mocked the protester's weight.
ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTER CHARGED AFTER VIRAL VIDEO APPEARS TO SHOW JOURNALIST SHOVED AT MAINE PROTEST
"He's a paid protester," Trump said, appearing to be unaware that the heckler was a woman. "They’re all paid. They get paid by the lefties in order to destroy our country. They’re scum. But he’s going back home to Mom. He’s going back home to Mom. Look at him. Look at him. Terrible. Don’t we love law enforcement? Oh, he’s gotta go on a diet! He’s a fat guy. Wow. Wow. Gotta go on a diet fast. We all do."
"No, they’re paid protesters. That’s a very low-class protester," the president added.
The woman's "Release the Epstein Files" shirt comes as Trump and his Justice Department face bipartisan scrutiny over the delay in the release of additional documents related to the investigations into deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Just days before the fight on Monday, there was a fight at another Trump rally in San Antonio, Texas, where a man wearing a MAGA hat grabbed a heckler by the hair and pulled him to the ground.
Bills-Rams delivered every ounce of Super Bowl LXI preview talk as overtime thriller deserves a rematch
All week, the talk surrounding "Monday Night Football" between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams was the potential that this would be a preview for Super Bowl LXI.
If this does indeed come to fruition, football fans will be mighty happy because this game was cinema in Inglewood on Monday night.
A back-and-forth battle that saw 35 total fourth-quarter points, an overtime period filled with clutch plays, and more led the Bills to beat the Rams, 37-34, to improve to 4-1. The Rams fell to 2-3, a record nobody predicted through their first five games, but they are still a top NFC contender.
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In a game filled with offensive fireworks from both Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford, it was Rams defensive captain Nate Landman who came through with the most important play of the game in overtime.
Allen and the Bills got right into Rams territory on the opening drive thanks to Khalil Shakir’s 57-yard catch-and-run on second-and-long. On the very next play, James Cook, who had two touchdowns but a fumble earlier in the game, wasn’t cautious with the football when he got the handoff from Allen. Landman punched at the ball, knocked it clean out of Cook’s arms, and his teammate landed on it.
Instead of the Bills getting the potential game-winning score, Stafford and the Rams had a chance to go downfield and win it all thanks to Landman’s efforts.
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Stafford did just that, using his star receiver Puka Nacua, who exploded for 17 catches on 25 targets for 138 yards and a touchdown, to get into field goal range for kicker Harrison Mevis to try a 48-yard field goal for the win.
But just when it seemed one team would finally come away with the win and get the final word, the other team stepped up.
The Rams have dealt with special teams woes in recent seasons, and Mevis, who had missed a 50-yarder earlier in the game, had his game-winning field goal blocked. The game remained tied, and the Bills’ offense breathed a sigh of relief knowing they could rectify Cook’s mistake.
Allen took matters into his own hands, rushing for 32 yards on the drive and getting well within field goal range for Tyler Bass to get his shot at glory. The snap was clean, the kick was true, and the Bills celebrated a hard-fought victory that had football fans thinking about the Martin Scorsese "ABSOLUTE CINEMA" meme (if you don’t know that one, look it up).
This game truly had it all, especially in the fourth quarter where, just to get to overtime, Stafford had to lead his third straight touchdown drive with 1:39 left on the clock and one timeout. He didn’t even need the timeout, as he found Davante Adams for his second touchdown of the game on a perfect route that left him wide open.
Rams head coach Sean McVay elected to go for the tie with an extra point instead of going for a two-point conversion. He had tried earlier at that, but the Rams failed to convert after Stafford was sacked.
In the box score, Allen threw for 210 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while rushing for a game-high 121 yards on just 10 carries with his score. Cook finished with 111 yards on the ground with his two touchdowns, while both Kyren Williams and Blake Corum scored for the Rams.
From the stars showing up under the bright L.A. lights to the beautiful scoring dance between these two high-octane offenses, to key plays flipping momentum left and right, this game deserves another meeting for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
It was football entertainment at its finest and lived up to every ounce of the hype.
Rays bullpen suffers embarrassing late meltdown as Cleveland bullies Tampa Bay in Game 1
The Tampa Bay bullpen ran out of gas late Monday night. After seven innings of grind-it-out baseball in St. Petersburg, the Cleveland Guardians broke loose with five runs over the final two frames to take Game 1 of the ALCS, 7-3.
The Rays drew first blood.
With two outs in the opening frame, Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca ripped consecutive RBI knocks to put Tampa Bay up 2-0. Rays starter Drew Rasmussen kept that lead strong through five innings, punching out seven.
Cleveland finally cracked Rasmussen in the sixth when Chase DeLauter jumped on a heater and launched an opposite-field solo shot over the right-center wall.
Patrick Bailey pulled Cleveland even leading off the seventh, hooking a solo blast down the right-field line to end Rasmussen's night at 2-2.
The Guardians kept the heat on in the eighth against Tyler Wells and Ian Seymour. Ramirez started the fire with a hustle infield single, DeLauter ripped a double down the line, and Nathaniel Lowe laced a go-ahead, two-run single to make it 4-2.
Tampa Bay answered in the bottom of the eighth when pinch-hitter Cedric Mullins ambushed Erik Sabrowski with a solo shot to right, trimming the deficit to 4-3.
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Then Jose Ramirez delivered the knockout blow.
Capping a 3-for-5 night with two runs scored, Cleveland's veteran third baseman stepped in with two outs in the ninth and lined an RBI single into right off Cole Sulser to make it 5-3. After Sulser walked DeLauter, Kevin Kelly entered to face Jo Adell. The mid-season acquisition stepped up to the big moment, ripping a two-run double down the third-base line to put the contest on ice at 7-3.
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Cleveland pounded out 14 hits against six Tampa Bay arms, with Ramirez and DeLauter combining for six knocks before Cade Smith slammed the door on six pitches.
The Rays entered Monday riding high after sweeping the Yankees, but they left the yard with all the pressure.
Game 2 is Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
Former Eagles CB Asante Samuel calls out coach Nick Sirianni after brutal London loss: 'You lost the game'
The Philadelphia Eagles flew all the way across the Atlantic Ocean just to hand a victory to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Unsurprisingly, former All-Pro cornerback Asante Samuel has seen enough.
Eight seconds left, a one-point lead, and a squib kick sealed it. Instead, Nick Sirianni gifted Jacksonville a live return, setting up an improbable walk-off win.
Speaking on the "Say What Needs To Be Said" show, Samuel put Sunday's 19-17 collapse squarely on Philadelphia's head coach.
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"You lost the game for your team," Samuel said. "Of course, the team was going to have his back and say, 'No, coach, it's not on you. It's on us.' But all the coach had to do was call a squib kick. A squib kick at the end of the game is normal and done all the freaking time."
Samuel torched Sirianni for his lack of awareness in crunch time.
"Nick Sirianni must have had a lapse in his brain or something and wasn't paying attention for him to miss out on that situation," Samuel said. "There's no way your team fights that hard for that long, and you let your team down by not making sure the right call is being made."
The blunder erased what should have been a gritty road win. Down Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith to hamstring injuries, Philadelphia took a 17-16 lead with eight seconds left on Jake Elliott's 48-yard field goal.
Jacksonville's Ameer Abdullah responded by fielding a clean kickoff, ripping off a 53-yard return, and setting up Cam Little's walk-off 57-yarder as time expired.
The loss dropped Philadelphia to 2-3 while pushing the Jags to their third-straight victory.
Sirianni fell on his sword Sunday right after the final whistle.
"I didn't make the right decision and I lost us that game," Sirianni told reporters. "And that's what I said to our guys. What hurts there is that the guys fought so hard, and then I don't make the decision that I should make at the end of the game and I cost us that game and I put that fully on me."
When asked why Philadelphia left eight seconds on the board before Elliott's kick, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts made it clear game management was outside his control.
"It’s not my place, and we’re prepared, I’m prepared as a quarterback to not worry about those things," Hurts told reporters Monday. "So I’m honoring a play call, honoring the things that are coming in the game. When I’m up at night, yeah, I think about, 'Man, should I have said something, or should I have took a step back and said, "Wait"?' But ultimately, there’s a commitment to that and going out there and executing. And so this was one where it did not work in our favor."
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Sirianni doubled down Monday, shutting down any idea that Hurts should have overruled the sideline.
"Jalen’s playing," Sirianni told reporters. "We’re coaching and calling the plays, and Jalen’s got to go execute what we call in that moment, 100 percent. We’re not asking him to make play calls in that scenario. He’s already got enough to worry about to go out and execute. That’s where we were there in that situation."
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Sirianni can preach staying in your lane all day, but Hurts is losing sleep over brain-dead strategy, and Samuel wants the head coach held to the fire.
Good luck fixing that mess.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
Man admits to dismembering ex-girlfriend, keeping severed head in suitcase after she played him 'like a fool'
A New York man pleaded guilty to murdering and dismembering his ex-girlfriend and putting her severed head in a suitcase with a flower after she ended their relationship, later telling investigators she had "played me like a sucker," according to authorities.
Damon Foy, 50, of Kerhonkson, pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder in the 2024 death of Alberta Dale, 44, of Pennsylvania, according to the Ulster County District Attorney's Office.
Between March 31 and April 1, 2024, Foy killed and dismembered Dale and was in the process of disposing of her body when law enforcement intervened, according to the district attorney's office.
The Ulster County Sheriff's Office began investigating on April 1, 2024, after Dale's family members in Pennsylvania contacted law enforcement because they were concerned about her well-being, the district attorney's office said. Deputies first conducted a welfare check before launching a missing person investigation.
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Deputies first went to Foy’s apartment on April 1, 2024, and found Dale’s car, according to the New York Post. The next day, deputies returned to question Foy after a member of the public found Dale’s phone on the side of the road and turned it in to authorities, leading investigators to suspect potential foul play.
"She’s in there," Foy whispered to investigators, when they arrived at his home during the missing person investigation. "I killed her," he added, according to court documents cited by the New York Post.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Foy's home and found a suitcase in a closet that contained the victim's remains. Foy was then arrested and charged in connection with Dale's death.
After shining a flashlight on the suitcase, investigators "immediately noticed what appeared to be dried blood," according to the documents.
"Officers opened the defendant’s suitcase and found Alberta Dale’s partial dismembered remains, including her severed head," the court documents read, according to the New York Post.
"The remaining portions of her dismembered body were not located during the execution of the search warrant," the documents add.
When he was later interviewed, Foy told investigators he "loved her," according to the documents.
"The only thing she kept doing after the time throughout the whole relationship was just play me, play me like a fool, play me like a sucker, and just took advantage of the whole f–king system," he said.
"That’s it. I was told to leave my own home. I was told to leave my own f–king home, not a bill in her name, and I was told to leave my own f–king home. Get out. Then it all started coming clearer to me," he added.
When asked about the flower in the suitcase, Foy only said he was thinking about "what still happened last night to take s— over the top."
Foy had a history of domestic violence against Dale, according to court documents cited by the New York Post.
A previous domestic incident involved a gun, and investigators had also observed an axe at Foy’s property when they were searching for Dale.
Dale had previously warned authorities that "if she went missing it was because [Foy] killed her," according to the court documents.
Under a plea agreement, Foy is expected to receive 23 years to life behind bars, with a minimum term two years shorter than the maximum of 25 years to life, according to the Daily Freeman.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Liz Culmone-Mills told the outlet that the agreement was backed by Dale’s family.
"The District Attorney’s Office would not be making this recommendation were it not for Alberta Dale’s family," Culmone-Mills told the outlet.
Foy is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 16.
"The total selfish disregard for the life and dignity of another person is at the heart of domestic violence; Damon Foy has shown that to us," District Attorney Emmanuel C. Nneji said in a statement. "We must recognize in our laws the rights of victims of domestic violence to be physically, psychologically, and emotionally safe from their tormentors and the dangers specifically targeted for them, and demand procedures that actually protect victims for real, not just on paper."
Bears kicker goes viral after trying to trip Packers receiver who decked Chicago coach on sideline
The Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears rivalry is one of the best in football, and one viral moment added to it during the Packers’ 31-7 beatdown at Lambeau Field over their NFC North foe in Week 5.
Packers receiver Matthew Golden fielded a punt by the Bears toward the end of the first half, and after returning it 17 yards, he ran out of bounds on the Chicago sideline.
Still running at full speed, Golden crashed into an unsuspecting Bears coach, who went tumbling to the ground after the blindside hit.
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Bears kicker Cairo Santos seemed to witness the act by Golden, and his reaction was one some fans on social media called dirty.
As Golden ran back onto the field, Santos clearly tried to trip the second-year receiver before he got between the white lines. Santos was unsuccessful, but as the broadcast caught the entire act from Golden hitting the Bears coach to the attempted trip, it quickly went viral on social media.
Fans started a discourse over which action was more dirty, and you can suspect where Packers and Bears fans aligned their views.
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In the end, no flags were thrown for either player and the half came to an end.
After the game, Golden admitted to Santos trying to trip him, but took the high road when asked about the incident.
"Yeah, he did. He did. But it’s all good. I ain’t got nothing to say to him," Golden said.
The 23-year-old Texas product, whom the Packers took in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, caught six passes from quarterback Jordan Love for a career-high 123 yards, including a 50-yard snag to help Green Bay humble the Bears.
And while Golden took the high road, his teammates weren’t as humble. Linebacker Zaire Franklin took aim at Bears receiver Luther Burden III, suggesting that he "ain’t wanna play anymore" and that he "quit today."
This was a response to Burden saying that Chicago wanted to "beat them real bad and make them quit" prior to their latest meeting.
As divisional foes, they will meet once more this season, with a Christmas Day tilt scheduled in Chicago. By then, playoff implications could be at stake, which would heighten the tension even more between these bitter rivals.
As things stand after Week 5, the Minnesota Vikings lead the NFC North at 5-0, while the Packers, Bears and Lions are all 3-2 on the year.
ABC accuses FCC of trying to 'inflict maximal coercive pressure' with probe against network
Disney and ABC accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday of using the license renewal process to circumvent "judicial review" and inflict "maximal coercive pressure" against the network and company.
Disney originally sued the FCC in August over what it claimed was a "retaliatory campaign against ABC" regarding the agency's early broadcast license renewal proceedings for eight ABC-owned stations earlier this year. The stations, according to the FCC, must demonstrate they are operating in the public interest as the agency investigates diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.
However, in Disney's latest filing, the company asserted that the FCC could have used "a number of different tools" to investigate Disney and ABC's DEI practices that did not involve forcing stations to renew their licenses years ahead of schedule, suggesting it was done to avoid legal scrutiny.
"These are not merely 'theoretical' tools ... they have been used by the agency for decades," the filing read. "Yet the agency tried none of those less intrusive tools here, instead taking the unprecedented step of calling for early license renewal of all eight ABC-owned stations at once. Defendants’ own admissions leave no doubt as to why — Defendants sought to inflict maximal coercive pressure on the media company whose speech the Administration sought to curb, while deliberately evading judicial review."
Disney cited a court hearing last week in which the FCC was instructed to provide a supplemental filing on alternative methods the agency could have used. During the hearing, the FCC suggested that additional procedures would have required federal court enforcement.
"That Defendants openly describe judicial review as an obstacle demonstrates what Plaintiffs have been saying all along: shielding their unconstitutional campaign against ABC from judicial review is part of Defendants’ retaliatory strategy," the filing read.
In a comment to Fox News Digital, FCC spokesperson Adam Jackman dismissed the latest filing as an effort to block the FCC in court procedures.
"Disney’s latest filing only confirms that they’ve filed a meritless case in the wrong court at the wrong time," Jackman said. "They want a district court to prevent the FCC from even considering whether Disney has complied with its longstanding obligations as a broadcaster. The law does not allow that. The FCC will continue to hold broadcasters accountable to their regulatory obligations."
Fox News Digital also reached out to ABC and Disney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Disney and ABC have repeatedly attacked the FCC's probes and investigations into the company as a form of retaliation over programs and hosts that are critical of President Donald Trump, such as late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
DISNEY ACCUSES TRUMP'S FCC OF ATTEMPTING TO 'SUPPRESS SPEECH' WITH LICENSE RENEWAL INVESTIGATION
In addition to the license renewal proceedings, the FCC has launched a probe into the ABC daytime talk show "The View" based on the agency's demand that broadcast stations adhere to the equal opportunity requirement stating opposing political candidates receive equal time. Disney has maintained that "The View" is a "bona fide news" program exempted from the rule.
Dodgers dynasty on the brink after the Milwaukee BABIP machine dials up another win for Brewers
Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday afternoon was a must-win for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Despite widespread perception that the Dodgers are the unbeatable superteam, it was Milwaukee, the team that finished with the best record in the league, that played essentially flawless baseball in a Game 1 win. While Jacob Misiorowski wasn't his typically dominant self, every time Los Angeles had an opportunity to break the game open, "The Miz" and his team's defense clamped down.
Already up a run in the second inning, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with postseason star Kike Hernandez at the plate. Once again, the Brewers defense was perfectly positioned to turn the inning-ending double play. After Milwaukee's offense scratched across two runs against Tarik Skubal, their bullpen continued its remarkable run of success, going 4.2 scoreless innings to secure the win.
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Still, the Dodgers felt good about their chances with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, postseason hero from 2025, starting in Game 2 against Logan Henderson. Yet for all the hype about LA's remarkable rotation, the Milwaukee BABIP (batting average on balls in play) machine once again kicked into high gear to secure a massive 2-0 series lead and put the Dodgers' three-peat hopes on life support with a 7-4 win.
LA jumped out to an early lead thanks to some uncharacteristic sloppiness from the Brewers. Mookie Betts walked, Freddie Freeman moved him to second, and he took third on a wild pitch from starter Logan Henderson. Teoscar Hernandez knocked him in with a sacrifice fly, and the Dodgers had a 1-0 lead without a hit. Sure enough though, Milwaukee immediately tied it in the bottom of the first.
The Dodgers missed an opportunity to challenge an obvious missed strike three call on Brice Turang, who then doubled and scored on a patented Brewers bloop single. William Contreras stuck his bat out with one hand, somehow making contact with Yamamoto's pitch to dump it into left field. It wouldn't be the last time.
The third inning was a near-repeat. LA mounted a quick rally on back-to-back singles from Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts. Sal Frelick robbed Freddie Freeman of a double with a nice running catch in the right center field gap, but an error on a pickoff attempt at first base brought Edman in to score. But the Brewers, knowing that the Dodgers' greatest weakness is having an opportunity to score runs, had them right where they wanted them. Easy outs from Teoscar Hernandez and Shohei Ohtani ended the "threat," and Milwaukee answered right back in the bottom of the inning.
David Hamilton poked another bloop single, stole second, and yet again, Brice Turang reached base on a missed strike three that went unchallenged by catcher Will Smith. Jake Bauers, one of the worst hitters in baseball before putting on a Milwaukee uniform, worked a walk after a lengthy at bat against Yamamoto, and Christian Yelich made him pay for it with a single to center.
After all this playoff heroics in 2025, Yamamoto went just 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and three runs. Missed challenges, bloop singles, exceptionally well-timed line drives from below average hitters, the ideal Milwaukee offensive outing.
Now trailing 3-2, the Dodgers "fought" back in the fifth. Kyle Tucker led off with a double, before a throwing error from Henderson on a Tommy Edman bunt let him score and sent Edman to second. A grounder and sac fly gave LA a 4-3 lead, once again without getting a hit with runners in scoring position.
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Sure enough, William Contreras immediately tied it in the bottom of the inning with a mammoth homer to left-center.
The Brewers bullpen, which is apparently unhittable, put up another scoreless inning, before the Milwaukee superteam once again kicked into high gear in the bottom of the sixth. Hamilton reached on a hit by pitch, advanced to second after a poor pickoff attempt, went to third on a Jackson Chourio grounder, and scored on yet another end of the bat blooper from Contreras.
Again, the Brewers' relief pitchers proved to be the single greatest pitching unit ever assembled, extending their streak to nearly 29 innings with just one run allowed. Monday was the first time in playoff history that a team's bullpen went over five innings in a postseason game without giving up a baserunner. JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby, DL Hall...that's the real superteam, and it cost about $17 to build it.
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The BABIP continued into the eighth, as David Hamilton crushed a 73mph single to right field, stole second, and scored on yet another obliterated 71mph single from Brice Turang. That hit pushed the Brewers to 5-12 with RISP.
Jake Bauers added on with yet another 73mph bloop single to make Milwaukee 6-13 with RISP.
Somehow, Milwaukee has perfected the art of running into singles on poorly hit balls in play. Some might say it's a skill, but decades of data and information have told us it isn't. Players and teams with poor exit velocities don't outperform with batting average on balls in play, in fact, it's the opposite.
The league leaders in hard hit percentage this season were, in order:
All five had BABIPs at or above league average, Wood and De La Cruz were .344 and .359, respectively. Jac Caglianone was eighth in hard hit percentage and second in baseball in BABIP. Hitting the ball hard is a skill, soft contact isn't. Yet the Brewers have three hitters in the top seven in BABIP anyway.
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Does it matter that Milwaukee has likely been lucky this season? No, not at all. A playoff series is the epitome of a small sample size, and reversion to the mean doesn't have to happen over five-to-seven games. Contreras could hit 17 straight bloopers off the end of the bat, because that's baseball. Which is why predictions of a guaranteed Dodgers' World Series win because of their talent were always so laughable.
Milwaukee had more hits with runners in scoring position in this game, not one hit hard, than the Dodgers have all postseason. And they're going back to LA with a 2-0 series lead and overwhelming likelihood of advancing to the World Series. The gaps between teams in baseball are so small that a bounce here or there, a team's ability to magically ensure that 71mph bloopers are placed perfectly, despite there being no ability to do that, can change a playoff series. David Hamilton, who is objectively an awful baseball player, reached base four times and scored two runs. Shohei Ohtani, the best player in the history of baseball, was useless. That's not unusual or unexpected, it's part of the sport. Which is why it's impossible for one team to guarantee themselves anything.
Will this matter to the "ruining baseball" crowd? Of course not, reality never does.
WNBA gives Cheryl Reeve another award after playoff collapse and years of outspoken left-wing politics
The WNBA has another award for Cheryl Reeve. This one comes from the people who run the teams, and that makes it worth examining what, exactly, they are celebrating.
The league announced Monday that the Minnesota Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations won Basketball Executive of the Year for the third time, tying the Atlanta Dream's Dan Padover for the most selections in the award's history.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after the top-seeded Lynx were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the eighth-seeded New York Liberty, who were subsequently swept in the semifinals by the Dream.
Reeve appeared on 13 ballots, ahead of Padover's 11 and Golden State's Ohemaa Nyanin's eight. Each of the WNBA's 15 teams had an executive on the voting panel, and voters couldn't select themselves.
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That's a substantial endorsement of Reeve from her peers and it also amounts to tacit approval of the way one of the league's most outspoken left-wing figures represents her franchise.
An executive helps establish what an organization stands for, and Reeve has made her politics a major part of that job. She consistently uses her WNBA platform to attack the motives of people who believe women's sports should be reserved for females.
Her colleagues have now chosen to celebrate her leadership. That deserves scrutiny beyond a list of successful transactions.
The league's announcement highlighted Reeve's selection of Olivia Miles with the No. 2 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Miles went on to become the unanimous Rookie of the Year and set the league's rookie scoring record with 790 points.
An excellent addition, obviously. But let's remember how Miles became available.
The Dallas Wings could have (and should have) taken Miles, but elected to draft Paige Bueckers' girlfriend, Azzi Fudd, with the No. 1 pick instead.
The Wings publicly praised Fudd's shooting. But pretending that their selection of Fudd was based entirely on her basketball skills is foolish.
Miles averaged 19.8 points, 6.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds as a rookie. Fudd averaged 13.1 points, 1.8 assists and 1.7 rebounds. Miles produced those numbers while playing slightly fewer minutes per game, shot better from the field and finished second in MVP voting.
Reeve should probably send the Wings a thank-you note.
In April 2024, the Chicago Sky moved from No. 8 to No. 7 and acquired the rights to Nikolina Milić. Minnesota received Sika Koné, a 2025 second-round pick and the right to swap first-round picks with Chicago in 2026, along with the No. 8 selection.
Chicago used No. 7 on Angel Reese. At the time of the deal, Minnesota was coming off a 19-21 season and Chicago an 18-22 season.
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In April 2025, Minnesota sent Chicago the No. 11 pick, which the Sky used on Hailey Van Lith, for Chicago's 2026 first-rounder outright. That deal canceled the earlier swap and allowed Minnesota to keep its own 2026 first-round pick, too.
Reeve deserves credit for those trades. Once Dallas passed on Miles, though, the choice at No. 2 was awfully easy.
Reeve also signed Natasha Howard, who started all 44 games and earned an All-Star starting spot. Minnesota finished 33-11 and earned the No. 1 playoff seed.
Dallas did Reeve an enormous favor, and the Lynx benefited.
For all those advantages, what did the Lynx do in the playoffs?
Minnesota became the first No. 1 seed in WNBA history to be eliminated by a No. 8 seed, and New York did it in a sweep.
The Lynx had the unanimous Rookie of the Year (who also finished second in MVP voting). And while Napheesa Collier, one of the league’s best players, missed time during the regular season, she played in both playoff games.
Minnesota lost both of those games by 16 points, including a 91-75 defeat at home in Game 1.
Reeve's four championships are part of her record. So is the fact that the most recent one came in 2017. In the nine seasons since, Minnesota has reached the Finals once, losing to New York in 2024.
During that same stretch, Reeve has collected three Coach of the Year awards and all three of her Executive of the Year awards.
Six individual awards. Zero championships.
If Reeve gets the credit for both building the roster and coaching it, she can answer for what that team did in the playoffs, too.
Reeve already won her fifth Coach of the Year award two weeks ago. With Monday's announcement, she became the first person to win Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year in the same season twice.
For me, evaluating an executive means evaluating leadership. If an executive repeatedly uses the team's platform to make political statements, those statements belong in the discussion of how she represents the organization.
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Reeve wore a "Trans Kids Belong" shirt on the sideline against the Indiana Fever shortly after Sophie Cunningham's comments about wanting to protect women's sports went public.
But she wasn't done.
After Minnesota's Sept. 24 regular-season finale, Reeve characterized the controversy involving male participation in women's sports as an attack on what she called the "transgender community."
"They don't want transgender people to exist," Reeve said.
That's an ugly accusation to make about people whose position is that girls and women deserve their own athletic category.
And it came from the person who both coaches the Lynx and oversees their basketball operations. Her public conduct carries the authority of both positions.
By honoring Reeve as the year's outstanding basketball executive, her peers are publicly holding up her leadership as an example. Her political conduct is part of that leadership.
The same people entrusted with running women's basketball teams are applauding a leader who talks openly about allowing males to compete in women's sports and share their locker rooms.
That says a lot about what the WNBA's decision-makers will celebrate.