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Hailey Dawson has a mission this season, and she’s well on her way to completing it. The eight-year-old from Henderson, Nevada took to Twitter late last year to ask all major league teams for a favor: she wanted to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. At every single MLB park.
Hailey was born with a condition called Poland syndrome, and was missing three fingers on her right hand at birth. The University of Nevada in Las Vegas came up with a solution for her by building a 3D-printed robotic arm. Now that Hailey can use her robotic arm for pitching, she wants to take to the mound at all 30 parks over the 2018 season.
Her journey actually began last year when she got to throw out the first pitch of Game 4 of the World Series, and she’s been checking off stadiums steadily ever since. This afternoon, she reaches Detroit, stadium 16 of 30. All 30 teams have committed to helping her.
Can’t wait to catch your first pitch today @haileys_hand !!!! https://t.co/e6aX1LI4bI
— James McCann (@JamesMcCann34) June 25, 2018
James McCann, who caught Hailey’s pitch, joins a long line of very big names who stood behind home plate for her pitches, including a who’s who of All-Star talent like Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Jose Altuve, and Kris Bryant.
15 of 30 completed so far. Thank you to all that have helped Hailey every step of the way so far. We appreciate all of you. Thank you @LGio27 for catching her pitch for the @whitesox. It was dab worthy :-) @MLB pic.twitter.com/ajifY33SK2
— Haileys_hand (@haileys_hand) June 23, 2018
Of course, McCann wasn’t the only member of the Tigers crew who came out to greet Hailey. Paws showed off his matching claws.
So cool to see @haileys_hand with @PAWSDetroit today. She’s going for 30 ceremonial pitches, one in each MLB stadium! pic.twitter.com/WObHQRHBMZ
— Justin Rose (@JRoseWXYZ) June 25, 2018
Hailey’s custom Tigers’ arm got some additional modification thanks to a new collection of autographs from the team.
Check out these Paws @PAWSDetroit @tigers pic.twitter.com/gftszEAbzk
— Haileys_hand (@haileys_hand) June 25, 2018
Hailey is now in the home stretch of her journey, with only 13 stadiums left to go. Her next stop will be in Philadelphia on July 1. To follow her incredible journey, head over to Hailey’s Hand on Twitter.
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