GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Left-handed pitcher Alex Vesia was back with the Los Angeles Dodgers at spring training Friday, less than four months after the death of his infant daughter, Sterling, that caused him to miss last year's World Series.
Vesia read an emotional statement after the team's first official workout, thanking his wife Kayla, the Dodgers, the Toronto Blue Jays and fans for their support during a difficult experience.
“The lessons we've learned from this is that life can change in an instant for us,” Vesia said. “Ten minutes is all it took. Sterling's soul was the most beautiful girl in the world. We got to hold her, change her diaper, read to her and love her. Our time together was far too short.”
He said missing the World Series was difficult but “an easy decision, because my family needed me.” The Dodgers beat the Blue Jays in seven games to win their second straight title.
Vesia also thanked the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, who sent him a jersey with all of the team's signatures, which he said he'll have framed in his home. The pitcher said he and his wife started therapy six weeks ago and that “talking to someone has made a difference.”
Vesia encouraged those who were struggling with a difficult situation to talk to somebody.
“Don't be afraid to speak up,” Vesia said. “Your mental health matters.”
Vesia went 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 68 regular season games and 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in seven postseason appearances. The team announced on Oct. 23, the day before Game 1 against the Blue Jays, that he was not with the team in Toronto.
Dodgers relievers wore Vesia’s No. 51 on their caps in a tribute to their absent teammate. Blue Jays relievers joined them in the tribute for Game 6.
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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia walks out of the clubhouse prior to working out during spring training baseball Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia, right, slaps hands with a catcher after working out during spring training baseball Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia works out during spring training baseball Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights charges Friday, following a protest at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. Four others also pleaded not guilty in the case.
Lemon has said he was at the Cities Church in St. Paul to chronicle the Jan. 18 protest but was not a participant. The veteran journalist's attorney said Friday he will fight defend Lemon's free speech rights.
“For more than 30 years, I’ve been a journalist, and the power and protection of the First Amendment has been the underpinning of my work,” Lemon said outside the courthouse after his arraignment. “The First Amendment, the freedom of the press, are the bedrock of our democracy.”
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the courthouse, chanting “Pam Bondi has got to go” and “Protect the press.”
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong was among the other defendants who pleaded not guilty. The prominent local activist was the subject of a doctored photo posted on official White House social media that falsely showed her crying during her arrest. The picture is part of a deluge of AI-altered imagery that has circulated since the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Lemon’s attorney Abbe David Lowell asked during the hearing for his client's phone to be returned after it was taken from him during his arrest in Los Angeles. Prosecutors said the phone is in Department of Homeland Security custody, and that the search warrant for it is under seal. The phone cannot be returned until the search process is completed, the prosecutor said.
Two more defendants accused in the protest at a Southern Baptist church in St. Paul are scheduled for arraignment next week, including another independent journalist, Georgia Fort. Nine people have been charged in the case.
All nine are charged under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits interference or intimidation of “any person by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.” Penalties can range up to a year in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
Protesters interrupted a service at the Baptist church last month, chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
The church protest drew sharp complaints from conservative religious and political leaders. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned in a social media post: “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.” Even clergy who oppose the administration's immigration enforcement tactics expressed discomfort.
Another of Lemon's attorneys who was in court Friday is Joe Thompson, one of several former prosecutors who have left the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office in recent weeks citing frustration with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown in the state and the Justice Department’s response to the killing of Good and Pretti.
Thompson had led the sprawling investigation of major public program fraud cases for the prosecutors office until he resigned last month. The Trump administration has cited the fraud cases, in which most defendants have come from the state’s large Somali community, as justification for its immigration crackdown.
Journalist Don Lemon, right, speaks to the media outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Journalist Don Lemon speaks to the media outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Nekima Levy Armstrong, left, speaks to the media alongside Chauntyll Allen, right, outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
People gather outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., in support of journalist Don Lemon and Nekima Levy Armstrong ahead of their hearing Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
People gather outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., in support of journalist Don Lemon and Nekima Levy Armstrong ahead of their hearing Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Nekima Levy Armstrong, center, speaks outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Nekima Levy Armstrong, center, speaks outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Nekima Levy Armstrong, center, speaks outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Journalist Don Lemon enters the courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Don Lemon arrives at the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
FILE - Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joe Thompson speaks to reporters at a news conference July 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP, File)
Journalist Don Lemon, talks to the media after a hearing at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Journalist Don Lemon, waves to the media after a hearing outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
