Aaron Richter. Luke Weaver. Anthony Volpe. Clay Holmes. They cheer for the Dodgers

Breaking news: Luke Weaver will not pitch for the New York Yankees during the World Series.

Firstly, he is blind. Second, he is a lifelong Dodgers fan who remembers falling asleep to the sound of the games on the radio.

Weaver is not to be confused with Yankees closer Luke Weaver, whose star has risen this year as he mows down batters and screams on the mound. The Luke Weaver is just a guy.

Dodgers fans like Weaver, with namesakes of the Bronx Bombers, are caught between the team they support and the American League star whose name they share this fall. Fandom seems to be catching on.

“I hope he gets destroyed in the World Series,” Weaver told The Times. “I wish him all the best. I wish him a good career. But you know, I hope he fails four times in the World Series.”

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Weaver, who lives in Palmdale but once lived a half-mile from Dodger Stadium, is a retired messenger who delivered gifts and checks to celebrities before he went blind 12 years ago. He still listens to Dodgers games on the radio and supports his favorite team, even though he can no longer watch them play. About seven years ago, he heard about a player in the league with that name and bought a few Luke Weaver cards.

“I think he played for the Diamondbacks back in the day, and I got all of his baseball cards in case he became famous,” Weaver said.

Clay Holmes, a lifelong Venice resident, hasn't played much baseball since his days as a catcher at Palisades High School last century. Unlike the Yankees' relief pitcher, this Clay Holmes is rooting for the Dodgers to bring the Commissioner's Trophy back to Los Angeles.

Angeleno Clay Holmes somehow understands what it's like to be a professional athlete — he supplements his income with competitive poker — although he says he doesn't really break a sweat doing it.

If the Dodgers are down 6-5 in the ninth inning, would Holmes mind if his namesake comes in and gets something thrown around?

“I wouldn’t have a problem with it if it meant a Dodger win,” he said.

In fact, Clay Holmes wishes the worst for Clay Holmes on the diamond.

“Shohei, Mookie, Freddie. I hope they get a few runs and a walk-off (game-winning hit) in front of him,” he said.

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The situation is a little different with Aaron Judge – not the record-breaking Yankees slugger, but the Dodgers fan who served in the US Air Force.

“Intramural Air Force Softball really prepared me for the big leagues,” he said.

Judge is from Montana and is a free agent when it comes to picking a major league team to support. When Judge was a child, his father traveled to Los Angeles, so Judge decided to become a Dodger fan.

“When I was a kid, it was Steve Garvey,” he said. “I would have played T-ball or Little League back then.”

About once a month, Judge receives a comment from a waiter or a cashier who looks at his credit card and sees that he has the same name as the big player.

“It's never annoying. I just laugh about it,” he said.

More difficult are the text messages and calls he receives from kids who think they've won the 2022 American League MVP, only to realize they're dealing with a different Aaron Judge.

“I get calls from kids in New York and Jersey asking if I'm number 99. I just have to let them down,” he said.

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Although he's rooted for the Mariners and Phillies in recent years, he's rooting for the Dodgers in the World Series this year. But he still wishes his younger namesake well.

“I wish him a great series. I know he will do his best. He is a great player and leader. I hope the Dodgers win, but I'm not going to say, 'Oh my God, I hope the Yankees lose.' ' I think they're both great teams.

Anthony Volpe — not the Yankees' young shortstop — also supports the Dodgers, even though he lives in the Bay Area.

“Yes, I know there is a player on the Yankees who has my name,” he said. “But I’m a Californian, so I’m a Dodgers fan.”

“I can support Volpe individually, but I can support the Dodgers as a team,” he said.

Volpe noted that the name is not particularly uncommon among Italian Americans. It means “fox” in Italian, said Volpe, who has dual citizenship of America and Italy.

Volpe's friends like to send him photos of the TV in a bar with his name under a picture of the baseball player. Or they send him a photo from a Jumbotron at the game when Volpe is playing.

The judge hears the family's teasing.

“My kids will call me and say, ‘Hey, I see you hit a home run today. Good job.'”

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.