SEATTLE -- Julio Rodríguez was meandering through the streets of Cabarete in the Dominican Republic during some down time during his philanthropic voyage to his homeland last January when he stumbled on a scene that was as sobering as it was squalid.

And in that happenstance encounter, the Mariners center fielder was reminded why he was there in the first place -- to give back to the people who need it most in the place he adores the most -- and took immediate initiative.

Agripina Polanco's home (Photo from Lucas Casel/MLB)

"That's when we decided that, 'Man, I cannot leave this place and not do something about it,'” Rodríguez said. “I feel like God is going to punish me if I do. He brought me here for a reason, completely out of the blue.”

What Rodríguez discovered was an elderly wo

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