Home Baseball MLB, Make-A-Wish Foundation send young fans to All-Star Game

MLB, Make-A-Wish Foundation send young fans to All-Star Game

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ATLANTA — Easton Arceo opened a package that arrived on Tuesday at his family’s home in Chino Hills, Calif. Inside was a pack of Topps trading cards, which Arceo quickly realized had his face on them. The bottom of the cards read: Your wish came true. You’re going to the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.

Arceo’s mom, Anna, mentioned that the moment “was a big deal.”

“We weren’t sure that it was going to happen, but then they confirmed it. This is a big deal for him,” she said.

Arceo wasn’t the only kid who received their very own card. Thirteen-year-old Tripp Mullis from Scriven County, Ga., actually didn’t realize it was his picture at first until his mom pointed it out.

Benjamin Galiher, 17, from Northern Indiana said he was able to figure it out pretty quickly when he noticed the All-Star logos all over the cards. Seven-year-old Easton Pobst from Cape Girardeau, Mo., simply said, “What is this?” when he opened his.

Sheldon Rice, 17, thought about it for a second.

“It’s just crazy,” Rice said. “To think that I could actually be a part of it.”

Just over a week later, Arceo, Mullis, Galiher, Rice, and Pobst were given the full All-Star treatment in Atlanta as they kicked off their Midsummer Classic experience on Friday with a dinner and reception with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Braves and Major League Baseball. This year marked the 25th time MLB and Make-A-Wish put on an All-Star event. In that time, they have granted over 130 wishes.

Also in attendance were MLB Futures players Marquis Grissom Jr. from the Nationals organization and Eduardo Tait from the Phillies organization, as well as Braves mascot Blooper, Billy the Marlin and Raymond, Tampa Bay’s mascot.

“It’s just our honor to welcome you and host you throughout this weekend,” MLB senior vice president of social responsibility April Brown told the families in attendance. “… You can have a gazillion types of wishes that you can ask for, but you asked for us. You asked for the sport that we love, and that means the world to us.”

At the front of the ballroom, a table was lined with gifts for each Make-A-Wish kid: a 2025 MLB All-Star Game backpack, two full bags, a program from this year’s game, a custom jersey with each kid’s last name stitched across the back and a custom red-and-white Marucci bat with the All-Star logo and their name engraved on the barrel (which was unanimously mentioned by every kid as the favorite among all the gifts).

Each kid went up one by one to receive their gifts, with Mullis getting his name called first. As Grissom and Tait were handing him everything, Mullis simply said out loud, “I don’t think I got enough hands.”

“Amazing,” Mullis said of the experience. “I like how everyone’s been treating me. It’s just like, warm and welcoming. And I like the food, too.”

Rice said that the part of the weekend he’s most looking forward to is meeting the players. As a lifelong Braves fan, Rice’s favorite player is Austin Riley.

“Right now they’re having an off year,” Rice said of his team. “But they’ll get it back, it’s just the Braves.”

Galiher also hopes to meet some of the players, maybe even his favorite — Cubs All-Star outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. But there’s another layer to it for him.

“He’s a collector,” Galiher’s mom, Sarah, said. “So he’s very much looking forward to getting some autographs.”

With dinner served and the welcome now over, the wishes are still on their way to being fulfilled. The kids will attend the Futures Game on Saturday night, as well as the rest of the events such as the T-Mobile Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game itself.

“This is really probably my favorite part of my job,” MLB director of community affairs Kevin Moss said over the microphone. “So thank you for having your wish be us.”

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