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Late All-Star Call Up for a Lucky Baseball Fan!

It was mid-afternoon on Tuesday, July 14th, as downtown St. Louis was set abuzz surrounding the impending arrival of the 2009 MLB All-Star Game. 21 year-old Andy Cook was in a completely different world- sitting in the Pediatric Cancer and Hematology Center at St. John's Mercy Medical Center. See, Andy has ALL, also known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He found out the news while a student at Mizzou, and has been back in St. Louis undergoing chemotherapy since November of 2008. And he also had no way of going to the big game.

"I didn't think I even had a chance at tickets," said Andy. "I mean, for one thing, they are pretty pricy."

Fate had other plans however, as Delaware North Companies, located in New York, had some tickets they could not use. That's when Steve Eden, Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications for the company, talked to a friend about donating the tickets. That friend was Julie Hantmann, longtime supporter of Friends of Kids with Cancer, a local nonprofit devoted to helping kids with cancer and their families in the area.

"I literally got goosebumps when I took the call," said Margie Sedlack, Program Director at Friends of Kids with Cancer. "We had tried so hard to get tickets for the kids with no luck."

Friends of Kids with Cancer runs programs at the local pediatric oncology centers. To be fair, names from each treatment center were put in a hat and a picked name was picked out. That name was Andy Cook.

"I didn't even believe it at first," he said. "I was speechless and very happy. I know how rare of an opportunity it is."

So, just four hours before the start of the game, Andy was able to get the tickets directly from Julie, a Kansas graduate. She eyed his Mizzou shirt suspiciously as she handed over the tickets.

"In the end, we are all Cardinals fans anyway," Julie said with a laugh.

Andy was able to go to the game with his best friend, Nick, and was even more excited to fid out the tickets were in the Coca-Cola Patio, which provides food and drink with admission.

"We definitely took advantage of the buffet," he said.

Good thing, too. The company that donated the tickets to Andy, Delaware North Companies, runs SportsService. They provide all the food for games at Busch Stadium.

"I think it was just meant to be," said Julie