Make-A-Wish kid gets All-Star experience he's always dreamed about
The suites at Major League Baseball’s All-Star game are unquestionably filled with important people — team owners, ex-baseball stars, celebrities, millionaires. But the most important people in the stadium suites last week at Marlins Parks in Miami were six families who were treated to a VIP All-Star experience from MLB and Make-A-Wish America.
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The six families got to spend the entirety of MLB All-Star week — the All-Star Futures Game, the All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game itself — in a suite provided by MLB, and the six Make-A-Wish kids got facetime with MLB All-Stars during the Home Run Derby.
Their faces lit up as they saw their baseball heroes right before their eyes, hitting homers in batting practice while also signing autographs and telling stories.
One kid in particular was Ben Koch, a 14-year-old from New York, who suffers from Adrenoleukodystrophy (or ALD), a deadly brain disorder that affects approximately 1 in 18,000 people. His brother died from the same disease.
Ben is a huge baseball fan — especially a New York Yankees fan — so his wish was to attend the All-Star game. Ben follows the game closely and knows a lot about young players from other teams, even local rivals, the New York Mets.
“The experience is crazy,” Koch told Yahoo Sports, “because I’m on the same field with all my heroes.”
Yahoo Sports followed Ben throughout his Make-A-Wish journey at the All-Star game to produce the feature video you see above. To help other kids like Ben realize their dreams, you can donate to Make-A-Wish.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
