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Wish
Stories
Daniel, age 9, describes himself as a “baseball player” and says that “for me, baseball is life.” When his original wish to see the Orioles play in Houston was canceled by the Orioles just a couple of days prior to his scheduled departure, he decided to entrust his wish to the Atlanta Braves instead and asked to participate in their March spring training in Orlando. The University of Georgia heard about Daniel from the Atlanta chapter and invited him to practice with them before their game with the Braves. First, however, Daniel became a minor celebrity when the Fox sports network interviewed Daniel and Andres Galarraga, the Braves player who had come back after his own bout of cancer. Following the interview, Daniel hung out with the UGA team prior to going over to the Braves dugout and meeting a few of the players. He then went up into the stands to watch the game. The big surprise of Daniel’s visit came the next day. The Braves coach had invited Daniel out to the practice field so that he could hit a few grounders to Daniel. While on the field, they noticed several players in uniform making their way across the field. As they came closer, they heckled and teased Daniel but he simply ignored them and continued to field the grounders the coach was hitting out to him. Finally one of the players threw his glove at Daniel and Daniel reached down to pick it up and try it on. Imagine his surprise when he realized that the player who owned the glove was Greg Maddox – head pitcher for the team! He and a few other team members stayed on the field and threw and hit balls to Daniel – all the while treating him like a rookie player. This was the highlight of Daniel’s trip and made him feel that his wish had definitely come true. |
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