It was not supposed to be this difficult. It was not expected to feel so frustrating.

Six months ago, the question was not whether the Dodgers would win the National League West, but how far out of the water they’d blow the competition.

It wasn’t whether they’d enter October in position to defend their World Series title, but if they could set a single-season wins record along the way.

Read more:Shaikin: Dodgers fans should take a moment to appreciate team's success before anxiety returns

“Everyone,” first baseman Freddie Freeman recalled, “was talking about our "superteam.'"

What played out instead, of course, was a disappointing regular season relative to the club’s lofty preseason expectations.

The team will not win 100 games, let alone the 120 that some predicted ahead of the year. It will not have a bye for the first round of the playoffs, having limped through much of the second half of the schedule. It did not realize the full potential of its $400 million roster, hampered by starting pitching injuries early in the year, bullpen implosions down the stretch and an extended funk from the lineup in the middle of the summer. It did not play like the star-studded juggernaut or villainous evil empire or ascendant dynastic power the rest of the baseball world had labeled it to be.

“This is not the route we envisioned,” Freeman said.

“It hasn't been easy,” manager Dave Roberts added.

Now, however, none of that matters anymore.

Because as far as the regular season is concerned, the team checked the only box that matters.

With an 8-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday at Chase Field, the Dodgers clinched their 12th division title in the last 13 years. They ensured that they will open the playoffs at home, even though it will start with a best-of-three wild-card round beginning next Tuesday. And most important, despite their struggles over the last couple months, they feel they are entering October playing the kind of baseball that had eluded them for much of the year, finally starting to feel like they are reaching their tantalizing ceiling.

“I do feel that in totality, we're playing our best baseball of the season,” Roberts said. “The win-loss hasn't reflected it, but I think that's what's most important. There's just been a lot of good things and a lot of growth from a lot of players, which has been fun to see.”

Fun is not a word that has often been associated with the Dodgers this season.

Early in the year, their best starters were hurt and many of their best hitters were struggling. They still built a nine-game lead in the division in early July, only to play 10 games under .500 for the next two months, allowing the San Diego Padres to get back in the division race.

“This year was harder than ever, to get to this point,” said third baseman Max Muncy, who missed extensive time himself with knee and oblique injuries. “We went through a lot. We had a lot of injuries. We had a lot of ups and downs.”

They will also begin October facing a litany of questions — none bigger than a bullpen that has been run down by a heavy workload and let down by the struggles of its most trusted veteran relievers.

But with Thursday’s division-clincher, they have won 12 of their last 17 games, and will enter the postseason riding some long-missing momentum.

“Even when it was our darkest, I just always saw our guys stay together and compete,” Roberts said. 

“That’s what’s going to make us stronger during October,” echoed pitcher Blake Snell. “It’s what we needed.”

The last two days have epitomized that orthodoxy, with the Dodgers (90-69) sewing up the division with a pair of resilient victories.

After familiar bullpen collapses on Sunday and Tuesday, the team got creative in an extra-innings win on Wednesday, following a strong start from Blake Snell with relief appearances by Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw.

Then, on Thursday, the offense set an early tone by scoring four times in the second inning (on home runs from Freeman and Andy Pages, plus a two-run single from Mookie Betts) and four more in the fourth (on a pair of two-run blasts from Freeman and Shohei Ohtani), giving Yoshinobu Yamamoto plenty of breathing room in a scoreless six-inning start.

“It's been a weird year for everybody, but we're here, we won again,” said Kershaw, shirtless and beer-soaked in what was the final division-clinching celebration of his 18-year career. “Obviously, we've got a lot more to accomplish. But you've got to enjoy this moment. We are. It's a great group of guys. And we're going to have a ton of fun.”

The Dodgers will have to replicate a similar blueprint in the playoffs, needing superb starting pitching, out-of-the-box bullpen management and some intangible connectivity to successfully defend their World Series championship.

For much of this year, they couldn’t produce those ingredients consistently.

But now, it “doesn't really matter what happened to this point, how we got here,” Kershaw said.

Indeed, with another division crown captured and the pursuit of a second-consecutive title awaiting, the slate has been wiped clean.

Read more:Can Roki Sasaki’s return provide Dodgers trustworthy relief? Early signs were promising

“We have an opportunity to make history,” Roberts said, acknowledging the difficulties that have come with trying to become MLB’s first repeat champion in 25 years. “But that’s part of it. It shouldn't be easy.”

For much of this year, they couldn’t produce those ingredients consistently.

But now, with another division crown captured and the pursuit of a second-consecutive title awaiting, the slate has been wiped clean.

“We have an opportunity to make history,” Roberts said, acknowledging the difficulties that have come with trying to become MLB’s first repeat champion in 25 years. “But that’s part of it. It shouldn't be easy.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Red Sox' champagne celebration postponed after series-finale dud in Toronto originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Tuesday was an excellent day for the Boston Red Sox. So was Wednesday.

Thursday had the opportunity to be a significant day for the team and the organization, as the Red Sox needed only to win in Toronto to clinch a spot in postseason.

But Thursday was not a great day, nor was it even a good day or a mediocre day. In terms of on-field results, it was simply a bad day of work for the Boston Red Sox, who lost 6-1 in Toronto. The defeat officially eliminated the Red Sox from having a shot to win the division, though that wasn’t a realistic goal for this team to reach.

The achievable goal was simple: Win on Thursday, punch a playoff ticket, shower in champagne and light lager, head home for a stress-free weekend vs. Detroit and prepare for a postseason series next week.

Instead, the mission remains unfinished.

With the freefalling Blue Jays going with a bullpen game, the Red Sox couldn’t manage to get a runner on base until the seventh inning.

At that point, though, the game was gone, after Justin Wilson entered a scoreless game to relieve Brayan Bello in the bottom of the sixth, only to immediately serve up a grand slam to Daulton Varsho. Wilson left a 94 mph fastball over the heart of the plate, and Varsho made him pay.

Wilson later surrendered a double and was replaced by Zack Kelly, who served up a two-out, two-run homer to George Springer to allow Toronto to open up a 6-0 lead.

Springer, who let his frustrations boil over after a foul ball call and then a called strike three in the season opener on Tuesday, erupted after the ball cleared the fence.

Bello allowed seven base runners on three hits, three walks and a hit by pitch, but he battled to keep the Red Sox in a scoreless tie before Alex Cora handed the ball to Wilson in the sixth. While Wilson has had issues preventing inherited runners from scoring all year long, Bello loading the bases on a Trevor Story error, a walk and a hit batsman in the sixth caught up to him.

Story’s error — his sixth in his last seven games — tied him with Anthony Volpe for most errors in the American League with 19.

The issue with the Red Sox on Thursday, though, had as much to do with offense as it did with anything else.

Reliever Louis Varland threw two perfect innings as the spot starter, before Eric Lauer pitched 3.1 perfect innings of his own. Yariel Rodriguez was called upon to record the final two outs of the sixth inning, which he did, striking out Rob Refsnyder and inducing a Connor Wong grounder to third.

Boston got its first base runner in the seventh, when Jarren Duran doubled into the right-center field gap. He came around to score on a Story RBI single, but Alex Bregman’s double-play ball killed that potential rally before it could gain any steam.

The Red Sox did load the bases in the top of the ninth, making things suddenly interesting. But Romy Gonzalez popped out behind the mound to end the threat and the game.

And so, the magic number remains at one, where it was when the day began. The Astros fended off the A’s to salvage a win in Sacramento on Thursday afternoon, and they’ll head to Anaheim, hunting a three-game series sweep over the last-place Angels.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, will head home to Fenway Park, where they’ll host the Detroit Tigers, needing one single win to clinch a postseason berth.

One Astros loss or one Red Sox win, and Boston will be playing postseason baseball. It seems like a sure thing (the Red Sox’ playoff odds dropped from 99.4 percent to 98.7 percent on Fangraphs on Thursday), but stranger things have happened than coinciding four-game winning and losing streaks for teams on opposite edges of the playoff pictures.

Not long ago, the Tigers were expected to be treating this series as an opportunity to either rest or set up their pitching for the postseason. Yet after an eight-game losing streak (which Detroit snapped by beating the surging Guardians on Thursday night), the Tigers will need wins of their own this weekend to either win the AL Central or secure a wild-card berth. (Detroit’s magic number was two after Thursday’s win.)

Many balls remain in the air, and the Red Sox don’t technically need to win again in order to clinch a playoff spot.

Yet depending on others — especially the Angels, who entered Thursday with a 7-15 record in September — to get the job done at this time of year is not typically the safest proposition. So the mission for Cora and Co. remains simple: head home, win a baseball game, make the playoffs.

It’s an easy enough goal in theory, but the longer it takes to get accomplished, it’s one that will become increasingly more difficult and stressful for everybody involved.

Fenway has been host to some memorable Friday nights this season. The last one will be the biggest.

Phillies quietly win Marlins series with another successful piggyback game originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Sometimes half the battle is just battling.

That was never truer than for Phillies starter Walker Buehler Thursday against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Ban Park. The veteran right hander made his second start of the season for the Phillies and seemed to be immediately struggling on the sticky evening. He still managed his way through five tough innings and picked up the win as the Phillies disposed of the Marlins, 1-0.

Buehler walked two in the first inning and threw just seven of his 19 pitches for strikes. He was aided, however, when catcher J.T. Realmuto caught Jakob Marsee trying to steal second and was able to work his way out of the inning. The beginning of a true workman-like performance.

“Obviously not super explosive in terms of what’s coming out of my hand,” said Buehler, who now has given up just one earned run in 13 innings with the Phillies. “I can make pitches and really good defense on the inside. We made some plays when we had to, I made some pitches when I had to. Kind of is what it is but kind of good workday for me.”

The Phillies scored the first run of the game in the first when Harrison Bader led off with a single, went to third on a Bryce Harper single and scored when Alec Bohm grounded out weakly to shortstop.

The Marlins loaded the bases in the third inning, but Buehler was able to coax Liam Hicks into a popout to second baseman Bryson Stott. Buehler finished his night after five innings and allowed three hits, three walks and struck out two. After that first inning, he threw 37 of his 55 pitches for strikes.

“I think the way I’ve always thought about the game was when you’re not good you should still be able to be good,” Buehler said. “But, given the last two years it’s a little bit harder for me to deal with. I think in some way, like tonight is a huge step forward and something that I can build off of. Any major league team can kill you and take you out of a game, but to be able to make some pitches in big spots was huge for me. Especially with the changeup. That’s my sixth pitch and something I’ve never really been good at. Just makes me feel like I’m in a pretty good spot physically in terms of where I’m moving and how consistent my hand is in being out front and being able to be a little bit creative with my wrist and my hand, I think, is the biggest thing for me.”

It was big for the Phillies on a night where they could only manage seven hits.

Phillies starters have gone three consecutive games without giving up an earned run as Christopher Sanchez, Jesús Luzardo and Buehler combined to pitch 19 innings and allowed nine hits, four walks and 18 strikeouts.

Taijuan Walker replaced Buehler in the sixth, as was manager Rob Thomson’s plan, and allowed the first two hitters he faced to reach base on a walk and single. But he followed that by getting a weak fly ball and two strikeouts to put away any Miami threat before retiring them again in the seventh.

“His velo was up, he touched 94 today,” said Thomson of Walker. “The split was good so it kind of notches up with the velocity. If that velocity just a little bit goes up, he’s really affective.”

Matt Strahm came for a perfect eighth before a rain delay of about two minutes ensued when the umpires asked to have home plate and the pitchers’ mound covered. Strahm got out of the inning and the Phillies got a runner on in the bottom of the eighth with one out before the crew called on the tarp again.

After a one hour and one minute delay, where it even rained sometimes, the remaining fans weren’t even treated to a Jhoan Duran entrance. David Robertson came on in the ninth to pick up the save and give the Phillies another series win, their record-tying 34th of the season, tying the 2011 team. Duran was up before the bigger rain delay and Thomson decided not to use his closer after he had already worked up a sweat.

“I thought his changeup, his cutter was affective,” said Thomson of his starting pitcher. “First inning had trouble finding the strike zone a little bit, but he worked out of it and that’s kind of who he is. He just keeps battling and competing and gives us five shutout innings. He was good. And Taijuan was good. Three strikeouts from Taijuan, that was encouraging to me. He was missing some bats. His split was really good.”

Just where Buehler will wind up in Thomson’s pitching plans for the playoffs is only known right now by the manager. But that doesn’t concern Buehler, who went out to the bullpen for some more work after he was pulled from the game.

“Every pitch in the playoffs is a little bit more,” he said. “If you throw 100 during the regular season, then you’re ready to throw 75 or 80 in the playoffs. I’ve always tried to find some athleticism in my throw when I’ve been good throughout September and build up to the point that fatigue wise, I feel like I can throw 85 pitches as much as I can. I did that last year. Not the buildup but kind of got myself to the point that I felt volume wise I could throw that much. I just think everything in the playoffs is intensified.

 “I’m here to win a world title, whatever kind of piece I can be in that, from a starting pitcher to a cheerleader, I really don’t care. I haven’t been here very long, but I’ve really enjoyed this team and the next time we celebrate I want to feel like I was a part of it and so whatever they ask me to do.”

If anyone outside the Yankees clubhouse last week genuinely envisioned the AL East race up for grabs entering the final weekend of the season, their hopes couldn't have been any higher. After all, the Blue Jays owned a commanding five-game lead for first place just 10 days ago.

But the window to a division title never closed for the Yankees. With four games left on the calendar, they've entered Thursday in a stunning deadlock with the Blue Jays atop the standings. While the head-to-head tiebreaker isn't in their favor, they've defied expectations amidst chaos.

The Yankees (90-68) must finish one game better than the Blue Jays in order to steal the crown and clinch a first-round bye. What once seemed like too tall of an order is now easily attainable, and the satisfaction of already securing a postseason spot isn't enough for Aaron Boone.

"I'll take the bye all day long. It's winning a series, essentially, without having to play one," the Yankees' manager said ahead of Thursday's series finale with the White Sox. "We've seen teams come out of the wild-card situation and run the table. We've seen it the other way. But if you're asking me if I get to choose, I'll take the bye."

It's no surprise Boone prefers a shorter journey to the World Series. His team took this route last season as AL East champions and the top-overall seed, bypassing the best-of-three Wild Card series and outlasting the Royals and Guardians before falling to the Dodgers in the Fall Classic.

The weekend pitching plan

The first-round bye offers clear advantages. Not only do teams receive nearly a week of vital rest from a grueling 162-game campaign, but they also get the luxury of a stress-free alignment of their starting rotation. So, the fewer taxing games, the better.

Yankees ace Max Fried pitched in Wednesday's win, and Carlos Rodón is lined up to start Thursday's contest. The pair of valuable left-handers can, in all likelihood, be ruled out for weekend appearances against the Orioles, and this reality shouldn't bother Boone.

But who's slated to take the mound in the coming days? Boone said the "probables" are Will Warren (Friday), Cam Schlittler (Saturday), and Luis Gil (Sunday). Based on this normal order, Schlitter would be available on regular rest for a potential do-or-die Game 3 of the Wild Card round.

Boone also mentioned there aren't any plans of asking Ryan Yarbrough or Paul Blackburn to spot-start or provide bulk relief work, but nothing is set in stone. The strategy is fluid while their fate is simultaneously decided by the Blue Jays, on the brink of a total September meltdown.

A familiar postseason strategy

Whether the Yankees host a best-of-three series of a best-of-five next week, their October success will be contingent upon familiar factors. They're trusting arms like Fried and Rodón to thrive under the brightest lights. They desperately need Aaron Judge to deliver at the plate.

Their recipe for wins requires home runs, and they'll once again have the opportunity to demonstrate this years-long philosophy from the franchise can actually yield results the fanbase has grown to doubt.

By design, the Yankees lead the majors in homers (266) and OPS (.786) this season. The threat of the long ball isn't disappearing, and Boone believes their power bats throughout the lineup provide an edge. But he also hopes to see more athleticism and timely hitting this time around.

"It's about getting on base as much as you can, and hopefully you put a few balls in the seats," Boone said. "But there's going to be those games you've got to win that are low-scoring, that you're going to be kept in the ballpark. I've seen athleticism return more and be a little more valued over the years. Some of that is rule-based.

"Defense, little things that happen over the course of the game become important in those one-off games. But at the end of the day, it's hard to just hit, hit, hit, double, hit, walk. You've got to usually take advantage of putting some mistakes in the seats. We've seen that play out a lot over the years of, teams that do that, usually continue to advance."

Since the league expanded its postseason field to 12 teams and introduced the new Wild Card round in 2022, only three teams with a first-round bye have reached the World Series. The rest doesn't guarantee a deeper playoff run, but the AL and NL pennant winners last season enjoyed the reward.

Giants GM Zack Minasian addresses Bob Melvin's future after underwhelming season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Zack Minasian has a specific approach to assessing Bob Melvin and the rest of the Giants’ coaching staff as San Francisco’s underwhelming 2025 MLB season nears a close.

Minasian, in his first year as San Francisco’s general manager under first-year president of baseball operations Buster Posey, revealed his thought process to KNBR’s “Murph and Markus” on Thursday.

“You’re always evaluating it, even with how well you play … as well as the other departments of baseball operations,” Minasian told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. “When you have years like this, it pushes you more and more to evaluate all of your departments and how they’re firing, and it makes you really question, ‘Are we good enough here, are we good enough there?’ 

“I’m probably still at the point of evaluating myself, and what can I do differently, and how can I play my part to get us where we want to go as opposed to anybody else.”

The 78-81 Giants were eliminated from National League playoff contention after Tuesday’s 9-8 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park.

Despite key offseason additions such as Willy Adames and the blockbuster mid-year acquisition of Rafael Devers, San Francisco couldn’t sustain its intermittent stints of success long enough, thus missing the postseason for the eighth time in nine campaigns.

Minasian shared more thoughts about Melvin, San Francisco’s second-year skipper, and the staff amid the team’s disappointing finish.

“There’s always going to be conversations — whether you’re winning or losing, you’re always going to have conversations about your staffing, and how it looks,” Minasian said. “In regards to Bob, he’s a consummate professional, and he really cares about the Giants. 

“Beyond that, we’ll just continue to do our work. And as the season ends, we’ll evaluate the team and evaluate our system and our options going forward …”

Minasian and San Francisco appear to be committed to Melvin after exercising his contract option for the 2026 season in July.

However, changes must be made for the Giants to return to the glory days Posey experienced firsthand as a player.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

The Mets shuffled up their bullpen once again on Thursday, calling up right-hander Kevin Herget from Triple-A Syracuse.

In a corresponding move, left-hander Richard Lovelady was designated for assignment, while righty Chris Devenski was outrighted to Triple-A.

Herget, 34, has appeared in five games for the Mets this season, pitching to a 3.27 ERA with five strikeouts and 10 hits allowed over the course of 11.0 innings. His most recent appearance was 1.2 scoreless innings against the Reds on Sept. 6.

Lovelady, meanwhile, continues to bounce back and forth between the active roster and the minor leagues. The lefty pitched 2.0 innings for the Mets in Wednesday’s loss to the Cubs, allowing two runs (one earned) while throwing 31 pitches.

Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh became the seventh player in MLB history to hit at least 60 home runs in a season Wednesday night when he drove two hits out of T-Mobile Park during the Mariners' 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.

In related news, the man who reportedly caught the milestone ball appears to have given it away to a young fan sitting nearby. Sure, the gesture wasn't nearly as historic as what the player lovingly known as Big Dumper had just accomplished, but it was pretty cool — especially considering the ball's potential value.

Read more:Fan gives back Mike Trout's 400th career home run ball, but not before getting to do something cool

Here's more on Raleigh's 60th home run and the act of kindness that followed.

Big night for Big Dumper

Raleigh entered the night with 58 home runs, already well beyond his previous career high of 34 from last season. The switch-hitting catcher was batting left-handed in the first inning when he blasted a 93-mph fastball from Tanner Gordon 422 feet into the upper deck behind right field for home run No. 59.

Then, with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning, chants of "M-V-P" were already raining down on Raleigh as he stepped to the plate, batting left-handed again, against Rockies reliever Angel Chivilli.

One pitch later, the at-bat was over and Raleigh had made history. He ripped a 98-mph fastball from Chivilli 389 feet into the right field stands to join Babe Ruth (1927), Roger Maris (1961), Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001), Mark McGwire (1998, 1999), Barry Bonds (2001) and Aaron Judge (2022) as the only players to hit at least 60 home runs in a season.

CAL.
RALEIGH.
60. pic.twitter.com/p8RXormx4q

— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2025

Raleigh rounded the bases, then took a curtain call in front of an ecstatic crowd that included his parents, Todd and Stephanie Raleigh.

It was the 11th time this season Raleigh has hit multiple home runs in a game, which ties the MLB record held by Hank Greenberg (1938), Sosa (1998) and Judge (2022). Raleigh, who also had a two-run double in the second inning, finished with four RBIs to give him an American League-leading 125 this season.

In addition to Raleigh's personal achievements Wednesday night, the Mariners clinched their first AL West title since 2001.

Read more:Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw boost bullpen, Dodgers magic number reduced to 1

"It's crazy,” Raleigh said after the game. “Sixty is, I don't know what to say. I didn't know if I was going to hit 60 in my life. And then I did it like this. Just tonight, I mean, what a way to do it."

Raleigh has four regular-season games left to try to break Judge's AL record of 62 home runs, set in 2022. The all-time MLB record is 72, set by the San Francisco Giants' Bonds in 2001.

Kind gesture in the stands

Based on a fan video posted on social media, it appears that a man wearing Mariners gear initially ended up with the historic ball. That fan can be seen holding the ball over his head while others seated nearby applaud his (and Raleigh's) accomplishment.

A second video, posted by the same fan who posted the first one, appears to show that the man gave the ball to a younger fan (someone can be heard in the video joyfully exclaiming, "Oh my God! They gave it to this kid!"). The boy and an adult appear to be following security out of the stands, presumably to somewhere the Mariners might be able to make an offer to secure the ball for Raleigh.

The Times did not receive an immediate response from the Mariners regarding the current whereabouts of the ball, what the young fan may have been offered for it and whether the original fan who got the ball was recognized in any way for his gesture.

The fans sitting around him definitely appreciated it. The same video shows them applauding the man, who tipped his hat to them and seemed genuinely happy with his decision to part with the ball.

Read more:Phillies fan explains why he plucked a home run ball from his son's glove and gave it to a total stranger

It's a feel-good story that helps cleanse the palate weeks after another viral incident took place in the stands at a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins in Florida. Phillies fan Drew Feltwell secured a home run ball hit by Harrison Bader and placed it in the glove of 9-year-old son Lincoln.

A woman quickly approached Feltwell, however, and angrily declared that the ball belonged to her. In an effort to set an example for his children by de-escalating the situation, Feltwell later said, he reached into his son's glove and gave it to the woman, who quickly became known on social media as "Phillies Karen."

Selfless to a fault?

Still, some folks on X are calling the Mariners fan "stupid" and "foolish" for giving away a ball that could be worth a fortune. Last year, the home run ball that gave Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani the distinction of being the only MLB player to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season sold at auction for a record $4.4 million.

It still remains to be seen, however, just who will receive that money. Three individuals have claimed to have been the rightful owner of the ball, and the matter remains tied up in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court. A calendar call in the case has been set for January.

Last week, another act of selflessness followed a different milestone home run for Raleigh. When he hit his 57th home run of the season Saturday against the Houston Astros, Raleigh broke Ken Griffey Jr.'s team record for home runs in a season.

Read more:How Bill Russell stayed connected to baseball, and reconnected with the Dodgers

The ball landed in the Astros bullpen and was recovered by longtime Houston bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte, who personally took the ball to Raleigh and placed it in his glove.

“He said: 'Thank you so much, I appreciate it. That means a lot to me,’” said Bracamonte, who received a hug from the opposing team's star catcher. “And I said, ‘This is great.’”

Raleigh said of Bracamonte: “Class act over there with him, so I'm very grateful. He could have easily just thrown it up in the air, but he, I guess, understood and kept it for me ... so very nice thing to do.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.