Angels can’t complete 1st series sweep as Blue Jays rally

• May 9, 2025

ANAHEIM — The first series sweep of the season remained out of reach for the Angels, who pulled off feats of daring and strength in the early going before fading into the night.

Once holding a four-run lead, the Angels let it all slip away in an 8-5 defeat after the Toronto Blue Jays loaded the bases four different times in a four-run sixth inning.

Fresh off of late game-winning rallies with six runs in the eighth inning on Tuesday and three more in the ninth on Wednesday to topple the Blue Jays, there was no more late magic remaining as a potential winning streak turned into the Angels’ ninth loss in the past 12 games.

Early trouble turned into promise when Angels starter Jose Soriano saw the Blue Jays load the bases after four pitches on three consecutive singles. He created his own momentum by striking out George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk to construct the rare six-batter, no-run inning.

Taylor Ward and Jo Adell hit much-needed home runs in the first two innings against Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.

“We knew going in that we had to be stingy with balls and strikes against (Bassitt) and that he’s going to try to attack the zone,” Adell said. “Just try to stay aggressive early and I got a pitch to handle.”

Then the offense went quiet, looking more like the crew that is in the bottom third of MLB in runs scored.

It was far from it in the bottom of the first when Nolan Schanuel hit a one-out double and Ward hit a home run to left. It was Ward’s second home run of the week, but he still began the day on a 3-for-35 downturn over his previous 10 games.

The Angels made it 3-0 in the second inning when Adell hit a one-out home run, also his second of the week but one that came after his own 2-for-32 slide in his previous 11 games. Zach Neto added a second run in the inning when he scored on a fielding error by Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette.

“Anytime you center a ball the way they did, that’s progress,” Manager Ron Washington said of Ward and Adell. “But you’re looking for consistency. At times it looks like it’s coming and then it doesn’t. The time it doesn’t you have to look at the pitcher and see what he’s doing. Pitching does stop hitting and Bassitt is a veteran dealing with an inexperienced lineup and he got into the seventh inning.”

From there, the advantage melted away.

Varsho began to make his presence known in the third on an RBI double, while Kirk had an RBI ground out one batter later. The Blue Jays pulled within a run in the fifth inning against Soriano on Addison Barger’s RBI single.

Then came Toronto’s revenge in the sixth, which started much like the first when they loaded the bases within their first batters against Ryan Johnson. It took on a life of its own when Anthony Sander hit a two-run single on Brock Burke’s first pitch, Varsho had a sacrifice fly and Barger grounded out for a run.

The Angels got a run back in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Logan O’Hoppe before the Blue Jays matched it in the eighth when Varsho homered for his third RBI of the game.

Soriano gave up three runs on eight hits over five innings with six strikeouts as he failed to build on his six scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers last Friday. He walked four Blue Jays batters.

“I don’t get frustrated because that’s part of the game,” Soriano said through an interpreter when asked about the walks. “Sometimes I’m going to walk people and other days I’m not going to walk anybody. We’re going to still keep working.”

Johnson (1-1) took the loss for the first time in his 14th major league appearance after he was charged with three runs on two hits and a walk without recording an out. Johnson has been charged with a run in each of his past four outings.

“In games like this, when we’re struggling on the pitching side, we have to pick those guys up, so we have to go back to that early-inning mentality,” Adell said. “Find a pitch and if it’s not your pitch, let the next guy do his job. We’ll get back there, we just didn’t get it done tonight.”

Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak and won for just the fifth time in its past 17 games.

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: Ducks face questions as Joel Quenneville takes over

• May 9, 2025

ANAHEIM — From a purely hockey standpoint, the Ducks’ hiring of Joel Quenneville to be the 12th head coach in the team’s history is a no-brainer.

Anaheim has a roster of young talent ready to take the next step, and Quenneville has a proven ability to take such a collection of talent to greatness. He’s done it with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers, and he has three Stanley Cup rings as a head coach (and a fourth as an assistant in Colorado) to show for it.

But … 

There is a reason Quenneville has been out of hockey for nearly four seasons. The findings that the Blackhawks mishandled allegations by former player Kyle Beach that video coach Brad Aldrich had sexually assaulted him in 2010 eventually enveloped the coach, who has acknowledged that he didn’t do enough in addressing the situation, as well as general manager Stan Bowman and assistant GM Al MacIssac.

The league banned Quenneville, Bowman and MacIssac in 2021, in addition to fining the organization $2 million for what it termed “inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response,” and lifted the bans last summer. Bowman became the Edmonton Oilers’ general manager in July, and 10 months later Ducks GM Pat Verbeek hired Quenneville, a former NHL teammate.

Not surprisingly, more than half of Thursday’s introductory press conference concerned the history. Verbeek addressed it at length in his opening statement, and Quenneville was penitent and up front about the incident and what he failed to do, and he seemed determined to use what he’d learned and work with groups within the community that deal with sexual assault and help survivors.

“Joel acknowledged that his response in 2010 was inadequate,” Verbeek said in his opening statement. “He recognizes that failing to ask further questions and that not following up and taking action were serious mistakes. Nearly four years away from the game, he has demonstrated sincere remorse and has bettered himself by participating in a number of programs focused on education, personal growth and improving his understanding of abuse prevention and response.

“Joel has paid a price and has faced the consequences. And after careful deliberation and consultation with so many, we believe he he’s taking the necessary steps to return to the game as the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks.”

Said Quenneville: “As Pat said, what happened to Kyle Beach was horrific and inexcusable. I was sick to my stomach when I learned what had taken place, Had I known what had happened, I would have taken swift action. I own my mistakes. While I believe wholeheartedly the issue was handled by management, I take full responsibility for not following up and asking more questions. That’s entirely on me.

“Over nearly four years, I’ve taken time to reflect, to listen to experts and advocates and educate myself on the realities of abuse, trauma and how to be a better leader. I hope others can learn from my inaction. I’ve spoken to Kyle more than once, including this morning. I’ve apologized to him and express how much I regret not following up and taking action. … I fully understand and accept that those who question my return to the league. I know words aren’t enough.”

Credit the Ducks for addressing the story up front rather than trying to hide from it. There will almost certainly be blowback – there almost always is – but also consider that Henry and Susan Samueli, whose ownership of the Ducks is probably more family- and community-oriented than any in this region, vetted this hiring and did so after their own conversations with Quenneville.

“We spent hours literally going through all the details of (Verbeek’s) due diligence and who he spoke to and what they had to say,” said Henry Samueli, whose own conversations included one with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, as well as a sitdown with Quenneville himself. “I mean, you have good people who make mistakes. You have bad people who make mistakes. So you want to make sure that you’re dealing with a good person who just happened to make a mistake. And I am absolutely convinced Joel is a really good person.”

The owners’ conversation with Quenneville went a long way toward them getting them comfortable with hiring him. “Big difference,” Samueli said.

At some point, let’s hope, the story will be about hockey, and about a veteran coach’s ability to turn a youthful team into a true threat. Quenneville replaced Denis Savard as Blackhawks coach five games into the 2008-09 season, and a team that had missed the playoffs five consecutive seasons – though increasing its point total from 59 to 88 the last four – reached the conference finals in 2009, then won three Stanley Cups the next six years (and took the Kings to overtime in Game 7 of the 2014 conference finals).

Similarly, Quenneville took over the Florida Panthers in 2019-20, a team that had made the playoffs once in the previous seven years. He didn’t stay around long enough to get them to the Cup, for reasons outlined above, but the Panthers are the current defending champs, and Quenneville helped plant some of those seeds.

“One of the best coaches I ever had,” said Frank Vatrano, who played two seasons and the first part of a third for Quenneville in Florida. “His aura when he’s in the room, and just the energy. … On a day-to-day basis, he makes it really fun to come to the rink every day. You can be having a tough stretch as a team or individual going through individual struggles, and he knows how to lift you up and lift the team up at the right times.”

These Ducks intrigued Quenneville the first time he saw them live, in a 4-3 shootout loss at Tampa Bay in January.

“I was thoroughly impressed at the pace of the game and the skill and the speed that Anaheim had,” Quenneville said. “I was surprised and I was impressed. And everywhere I go in hockey lately everybody says, ‘You know, the place to go (is) Anaheim. They’ve got what you had in Chicago.’ And I’m sitting there (thinking), I know I was the most fortunate coach walking in that day in Chicago, but I certainly feel that this team is on the right track of being there.”

Here’s another hint that things are about to get interesting in Honda Center. Verbeek said Thursday that the goal is now to get to the playoffs, period. Samueli stated that “it’s time to take this step to becoming a perennial playoff contender and eventually Stanley Cup contender.” Then he added that he told Verbeek this, after spending a hefty sum on Quenneville’s contract:

“When going out and looking for players, you will have the budget. You need to make this a serious playoff team and you don’t have to pinch pennies anymore. Just do what it takes to make this a good team.”

Maybe it won’t be long before the talk around the Ducks is, again, strictly about hockey.

jalexander@scng.com

​ Orange County Register 

Mental competency questioned for man who crashed into Jennifer Aniston’s gate

• May 9, 2025

A defense attorney on Thursday questioned the mental competency of a man accused of ramming his vehicle into the front gate of actress Jennifer Aniston’s Bel Air home.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz suspended criminal proceedings against Jimmy Wayne Carwyle pending a mental competency evaluation and ordered him “not to have any contact with Jennifer Aniston” and to “stay 100 yards away from her residence.”

An attorney representing Carwyle entered a not guilty plea on his behalf just before telling the judge that she was asking the court to declare a doubt about Carwyle’s competency.

Carwyle — who appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom — was charged Wednesday with one felony count each of stalking and vandalism, along with an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm.

He was arrested around 12:30 p.m. Monday by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Los Angeles station after private security guards helped detain him outside Aniston’s home in the 900 block of Airole Way.

Prosecutors said he crashed into the front gate of the home, “causing substantial damage.”

According to the District Attorney’s Office, Carwyle has allegedly been harassing Aniston since March of 2023 by “sending her unwanted social media, voicemail and email messages.”

Carwyle allegedly made multiple social media posts referencing the actress, with some of them referring to her as his wife.

“Stalking is a crime that can quickly escalate from harassment to dangerous, violent actions, threatening the safety of victims and our communities,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorize others, ensuring they are held accountable.”

Carwyle has remained behind bars since his arrest.

He is set to appear at the Hollywood courthouse May 22 for mental competency proceedings.

Carwyle faces up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged, according to prosecutors.

​ Orange County Register 

‘JD Vance is wrong’: New Pope Leo XIV has criticized Trump administration online

• May 9, 2025

Pope Leo XIV, who was known as Cardinal Robert Prevost before becoming the first American selected to lead the Catholic Church on Thursday, has reposted online content critical of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on immigration and religious issues.

A Chicago native and Villanova University graduate, Leo XIV speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese, and can read both Latin and German. He joined X — then known as Twitter — in 2011, and has sporadically posted and reposted content in several languages on the account @drprevost.

On Feb. 3, Prevost shared a link to a National Catholic Reporter article titled: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.” The article took issue with Vance’s interpretation of “ordo amoris,” a Catholic concept that roughly translates to the “order of love” or “order of charity.”

“There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far-left has completely inverted that,” Vance had said during a Jan. 29 Fox News interview, which was also criticized by Leo XIV’s predecessor, the late Pope Francis.

On April 14, Prevost’s most recent repost linked to Catholic blogger Rocco Palmo’s article denouncing the Trump administration’s “illicit deportation of a US resident” — a reference to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen wrongly deported to from Maryland in March despite being granted “withholding of removal” status and legal working papers by an American judge. The post quoted Salvadoran Bishop Evelio Menjivar: “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”

In 2017, Prevost also reposted tweets denouncing the first Trump administration’s policies toward refugees from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries. Pope Leo XIV has also shared messages in support of gun control measures and opposing abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia and so-called “gender ideology” in public schools.

For their part, Trump, Vance and other American leaders have congratulated the new pope.

Of Leo XIV, Trump wrote it was “such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope” and says he looks forward to meeting him. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, wrote: “I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church.”

Have a news tip? Contact Carson Swick at cswick@baltsun.com.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers seek more efficiency, longer outings from starting pitchers

• May 9, 2025

PHOENIX — The math is simple. The solution is not.

If the Dodgers are going to ask less of their relievers, who lead the majors in innings pitched (167) through Thursday, the only way to do it is to ask more of their starting pitchers, who have thrown the fewest innings in the majors (167).

“It’s tough,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Each night you look back and, whether it’s Roki (Sasaki) throwing 98 pitches in five innings and I don’t want to put him in harm’s way and go deeper. It’s Dustin May throwing 90-something pitches to get through five innings.

“Those are things that they’ve got to put us in position to run them deeper. That’s just the way it goes. Tony (Gonsolin) made his second start back with us (Tuesday). There’s that fine line of trying to run those guys deeper but also trying not to break those starters too. It’s not an exact science.”

It is simple math, though. The Dodgers’ starting pitchers have been among the least efficient in baseball, averaging 16.75 pitches per inning pitched, the seventh-most in the majors this season. More pitch efficiency is one way to get deeper into games.

“Yeah, it is,” Robert said, pointing to the lack of efficiency as a major factor in the low innings total for the team’s starters.

“I think there’s a lack of efficiency. … Early on in the season I was mindful of making sure guys got their feet under them. Now that they’ve got their footing I feel more comfortable extending them to the century mark (100 pitches) with certain guys.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the only Dodgers’ starting pitcher to throw 100 pitches in a start this season. He did it twice before Thursday.

The Dodgers can also shift the workload to the starting pitchers by relying on fewer ‘bullpen games.’ They will do that Sunday by starting Tony Gonsolin on four days of rest against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Gonsolin will be the first Dodgers starter this season to start a game on four days’ rest (excluding openers).

WILD START

Right-handed reliever Michael Kopech started his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday night by walking all five batters he faced. Kopech threw 23 pitches, only three strikes.

Kopech’s start to the season has been delayed by forearm discomfort last fall, an illness this winter and a shoulder impingement this spring. He is on the 60-day injured list and Roberts said he will likely make a handful of rehab appearances before “it’s a real conversation” about activating him.

FRIENDLY FIRE

Tommy Edman has done some running to test his injured right ankle and faced live pitching Thursday. That pitching came from Emmett Sheehan, who has progressed to facing hitters in his recovery from Tommy John surgery one year ago. Sheehan threw 40 pitches in Thursday’s session.

Edman, meanwhile, is eligible to come off the IL on Saturday but is not expected back until next week.

“I think he came out of it pretty well,” Roberts said. “He took five at-bats with Emmet Sheehan today, which is great. So today was just another positive day for Tommy.”

ALSO

Shohei Ohtani is expected to increase the workload in his weekly bullpen session on Saturday. He is scheduled to do an ‘up-down’ – simulating the break between two innings. Roberts repeated again Thursday that Ohtani is “a ways away” from facing hitters in his throwing sessions and is not likely to pitch in games until after the All-Star break.

UP NEXT

Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 1-1, 3.86 ERA) at Diamondbacks (LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, 1-3, 5.92 ERA), Friday, 6:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Fountain Valley’s Alyssa Ton and Newport Harbor’s Connor Ohl blaze at CIF swim prelims

• May 9, 2025

WALNUT — With Orange County’s established stars still riding their jet stream Thursday, a few future swimmers to watch earned the spotlight at the CIF-SS Division 1 preliminaries at Mt. SAC.

Fountain Valley’s Alyssa Ton and Newport Harbor’s Connor Ohl raced to the front.

Ton, a sophomore, matched three-time O.C. swimmer of the year Teagan O’Dell of Santa Margarita by qualifying first in two girls events for Saturday’s noon finals.

Ohl, a junior, claimed the top seed in the 50 free after last week becoming only the second county boy to ever break 20 seconds in the two-lap sprint.

In the team competition, Santa Margarita’s boys and girls positioned themselves well for title defenses but Ton and Ohl offered some emerging speed.

“Alyssa has got a lot of potential,” Fountain Valley coach Nathan Wilcox said. “She’s probably that next star that you’re looking for. She’s doing some things that are really special.”

Ohl certainly has. Last week at the Sunset League finals, he won the 50 free in an eye-popping 19.79 seconds.

“Big-time water polo player but he’s also a big-time swimmer,” Newport Harbor co-coach Kevin Potter said. “He loves to race.”

Ton challenged her lifetime-best time in the 200-yard freestyle by clocking a time of 1 minute, 45.71 seconds.

Last week at the Sunset League final, Ton clocked a personal-best 1:44.50 to move to No. 5 all-time in county history. She clocked the time the same day that O’Dell set the county record in the middle-distance event with a 1:42.98.

In the 500 free, Ton blazed a lifetime-best and county-leading 4:44.54 that ranks her 11th in county history.

Ton was pleased with both times but hopes to be even faster Saturday.

“I’m very excited,” she said. “I want to see how close I can get to 4:40 (in the 500 free) and if I can go 1:43 in the 200.”

Ton trains under Wilcox with the Irvine Novaquatics. She has polished her stroke technique with plenty of hard work, including twice a day practices.

“I wasn’t the best trainer but after learning to just go all out in practice — destroy myself — I really see the improvement,” Ton said. “I’m dead tired (after practice).”

Ohl qualified first in the 50 free in 20.39, six-tenths of a second off his time last week.

Ohl joined Olympian Michael Cavic of Tustin as the only county boy to ever break 20 seconds. Cavic pulled the feat three times in 2002.

“It still doesn’t feel real,” Ohl said of his 19.79. “Going that fast, it was a … dream but it happened. I just put my head down and sprinted as hard as I could. I just wanted to bring glory to Newport.”

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Ohl credits his speed to training long course for the short-course races in high school.

“All I’m doing is going as hard as I can every morning with Newport long course (at Estancia),” Ohl said. “That’s how we’re getting so fast.”

Ohl later led off the Sailors’ 200 free relay with a 20.30. He also qualified sixth in the 100 free in 45.24.

O’Dell blasted top-qualifying times in the 200 individual medley (1:54.73) and 100 back (51.98) in county-leading times. The Cal-bound senior touched about one second off her Division 1 record in the IM and half-a-second off her dorsal standard.

O’Dell also led of the 400 free relay in a county-leading 49.12, almost half-a-second ahead of Ton.

Santa Margarita’s girls, who are seeking an 11th consecutive Division 1 title, also received a burst of speed from Gracyn Aquino. She qualified first in the 50 free (22.85) and second in 100 free (49.58). Teammate Chloe Stinson touched a close-second in the 50 free (23.02).

Northwood’s duo of seniors Derek Hitchens and Andrew Maksymowski both qualified first in two events.

The Columbia-bound Hitchens swept the 100 free (county-leading 44.37) and 100 backstroke (49.24) while the Texas-bound Maksymowski earn the No. 1 seeds in the 200 (1:36.76) and 500 (4:26.28) free.

Santa Margarita’s boys, who are seeking a fifth consecutive title, posted several time drops in showing their depth.

In the 200 IM, the Eagles’ Bennett Korner, Taylor Thongintra and Amir Ali all qualified for the finals at fifth, eighth ninth, respectively. Korner, a junior, dropped about a second to touch in 1:50.43.

Mater Dei’s Elonzo Santos (100 breast 54.26) and Tesoro’s Liam Mulroy (100 fly 49.31) also qualified first.

​ Orange County Register 

Angels flip base coaches to make use of Eric Young’s expertise

• May 9, 2025

ANAHEIM — Mere feet away from his worn fungo bat used for regular infield drills, Angels manager Ron Washington announced another decision Thursday rooted in the improvement of fundamental play.

Effective immediately, the Angels moved Eric Young Sr. into the first-base coaching box, while Bo Porter was moved from first to third.

Young spent time as the first-base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2011-12), the Colorado Rockies (2014-16) and the Atlanta Braves (2018-23). Since 2007, Porter has served as a third-base coach for the Florida Marlins, Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals and Braves.

“The reason we’re doing it, because I don’t know if you guys know, but EY is one of the better baserunning guys in the game,” Washington said. “We can’t use his skill set at third base, so we’re moving him to first so we can start helping these kids to start understanding what it takes to be a good base runner.”

Washington declined to offer a particular example when asked.

“This was something (General Manager) Perry (Minasian) and I had been discussing for a while and we just decided to make a move,” Washington said.

Washington’s affinity for fundamental baseball is well-documented. In his first spring training as Angels manager in 2024, he formed an early-morning club of infielders that would work on a bevy of drills. Shortstop Zach Neto has been a major benefactor of the instruction, forming a tight bond with his manager.

There also are pitchers’ fielding practice drills at least once a homestand, including before Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The results remain a work in progress, with the Blue Jays laying down two bunt singles during a three-run seventh inning before the Angels rallied late for a 5-4 victory.

The Angels entered Thursday’s slate of games having allowed nine bunt singles, tied for the most in MLB. Washington credited the last four of those to perfect execution by the opponent.

“Those are four that got us and it looked bad because we didn’t execute any of them, but if you go back and look at the replays, you can see they were perfect bunts,” Washington said. “But it looks bad because we didn’t get any outs. It’s things you have to do. That’s how you keep going through a 162-game season.”

Right-handed reliever Ryan Zeferjahn was a victim of a bunt single Wednesday.

“We’ve struggled with it, and it’s early in the season, but working on it and when the time comes in a big game when we need it, because we’ve worked on it and had the reps, it’s going to pay off in the long run,” Zeferjahn said. “The small game, working on it, and Wash being big on it, that can change a lot of games.”

REST DAY

Infielder Luis Rengifo was held out of the starting lineup one day after he was removed in the eighth inning after forgetting the number of outs.

“I just thought he needed a mental day so however you interpret it, you have to interpret it,” Washington said. “I just thought he needed a mental day. He’ll be back in there tomorrow.”

Rengifo had moved from third base to second base on Tuesday after Yoán Moncada returned from the injured list. Tim Anderson took over at second base on Thursday.

PEDAL POWER

Mike Trout did light exercise work on a stationary bike as he continues to recover from a bone bruise in his left knee that landed him on the injured list on May 1.

Trout will be eligible to come off the IL on Sunday and said last week it would be “possible” he would be back by then. Medical exams showed the knee was structurally sound.

While Trout was optimistic for a quick return, Minasian has said there is no timetable for when he would be back on the field.

Washington did not have a progress update on right-handed reliever Ben Joyce, who is scheduled for a bullpen throwing session in the coming days. Joyce has been on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation since April 11.

UP NEXT

Orioles (RHP Tomoyuki Sugano, 3-2, 3.00 ERA) at Angels (RHP Kyle Hendricks, 1-3, 5.28 ERA), Friday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM

​ Orange County Register 

La Cañada Flintridge estate with backyard train finds a buyer

• May 9, 2025

The owners of a historic La Cañada Flintridge estate with a near-amusement park in the backyard have accepted an offer from an unidentified buyer just four days after listing the property for $8.5 million.

“As soon as we hit the market, their agent called, and I had an offer from them right away,” said Kathy Seuylemezian of Coldwell Banker Realty, the listing agent, by phone. “It was a quick escrow and all contingencies have been removed, so the chance of it falling out is slim to none.”

The 5,622-square-foot Dutch Colonial Revival-style residence, built in 1915 and designated a historic property by the city, features a total of six bedrooms and eight bathrooms between the main and guest houses. It sits on over 1.5 acres of manicured grounds with a unique feature — a kiddie train.

Current owners David and Sherry Kirchheimer discovered rusted remnants of train tracks that a past owner had installed, they told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story. Records show the couple bought the house in July 2008 for $6.175 million.

The Kirchheimers recreated the railroad with the help of late Disney Imagineer Bill Tyson in 2011.

Today, the Flintheim Railroad features a train station with a crossing light. The kid-sized train for up to five people travels on roughly 530 feet of tracks through a tunnel, over two bridges and past a general store and a mining camp. The train shed is a replica of Disney animator Ward Kimball’s Grizzly Flats Railroad, which operated from the backyard of his San Gabriel home between 1942 and 2006.

A winner of multiple “La Cañada Beautiful” awards, the grounds include a 50-by-19-foot pool with a diving board ringed by a two-level deck, a rose garden and a wisteria-topped pergola.

The custom play structure has rock-climbing walls and a bridge.

A fenced-in, irrigated vegetable garden, fruit trees and a built-in barbecue island with bar seating enhance the bucolic setting centered around the 5-bedroom main house, which features a covered front porch overlooking the manicured lawn.

The house, which has been renovated over the decades, opens into a grand foyer with a curved staircase.

French doors flood the formal dining room with natural light and a fireplace anchors the living room.

The gourmet kitchen features top-of-the-line appliances, a large island with a prep sink, a deep pantry, a separate butler’s pantry and a breakfast nook. It flows into the large family room with a fireplace.

A second staircase off the kitchen leads to an office, two bedrooms and the primary suite, which has direct access to a balcony.

The suite also features a sitting room warmed by a fireplace, a raised bedroom, two deep closets and a spa-inspired bathroom with a jetted tub, double sinks and a separate shower stall.

Other structures on the property include the one-bedroom guest house with a living room and full kitchen, a fitness space with a balcony above the separate two-car garage and a dedicated workshop and storeroom with a woodworking bench. The game house boasts a stone fireplace, bar area and pool table.

There’s a large enclosed play area for dogs.

The property has a Generac 20-kilowatt generator with a backup propane tank, a San Marino security system and Ring cameras. In addition to the garage, there’s a two-car carport and a flat, circular driveway that can accommodate a dozen vehicles.

Seuylemezian anticipates the sale will close within two weeks, though the sale price has not yet been disclosed.

​ Orange County Register