Girl with 3D-Printed Hand Dreams of Throwing the First Pitch at every MLB Park and it Might Just Happen
A young girl with a robotic hand is making her MLB dreams come true.
Like a lot of second graders, Hailey Dawson loves baseball and her dreams of throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game are a bit bigger than just a single game. 7-year-old Hailey wants to throw out the first pitch at every Major League Baseball park, and now she is getting little closer to realizing that dream.
Hailey was born with a rare congenital disorder called Poland Syndrome that left her without three fingers on her right hand. She now has a 3D-printed hand that was created by the engineering department at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Hailey has even taught herself to grab onto the ball and throw it with her 3D-printed hand.
Two years ago Hailey threw out the first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles game, and earlier this month, The Bleacher Report posted a video on Twitter sharing Dawson's story with the caption: "7-year-old Hailey Dawson wants to throw out the first pitch at every MLB ballpark with her 3-D printed hand."
It didn't take long for MLB teams to step up to the plate for this very special little girl. Once the video went viral, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers, the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's have all invited Hailey to throw out a pitch at their fields.
Hailey's Twitter and Instagram pages, Hailey's Hand, show her throwing out the first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals' stadiums. However, based on the amazing responses from so many MLB teams and the release of the 2018 schedules, we expect Hailey to be a very busy young lady as she throws out many more pitches at MLB fields as she reaches her goal.