--- title: Make-A-Wish Foundation Gives Baseball Fan Fake Fenway Park description: This 10-year-old Red Sox baseball fan's dream for a fantasy Fenway park in his backyard came true canonical: https://time.com/4543676/muscular-dystrophy-fenway-park-wish/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-24T21:51:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:37:57.484Z og:title: 10-Year-Old With Muscular Dystrophy Gets 'Fantasy Fenway Park' in Backyard og:description: And he throws out the opening pitch og:url: https://time.com/4543676/muscular-dystrophy-fenway-park-wish/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55649ba3506c7b3b/6988ab650a4a2248a79cbc6b/gettyimages-613835652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4238 og:image:height: 2384 og:image:alt: American League Division Series - Cleveland Indians v. Boston Red Sox - Game Three og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10-Year-Old With Muscular Dystrophy Gets 'Fantasy Fenway Park' in Backyard twitter:description: And he throws out the opening pitch twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55649ba3506c7b3b/6988ab650a4a2248a79cbc6b/gettyimages-613835652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 10-Year-Old With Muscular Dystrophy Gets 'Fantasy Fenway Park' in His Backyard > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Oct 24, 2016 9:51 PM UTC  BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 10: A general view of Fenway Park during Game 3 of ALDS between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Monday, October 10, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 10: A general view of Fenway Park during Game 3 of ALDS between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Monday, October 10, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) Rob Tringali-MLB Photos via Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Oct 24, 2016 9:51 PM UTC [Make-A-Wish](http://time.com/4202967/lakers-sign-make-a-wish-recipient-with-cancer-to-contract/) has granted an [ill 10-year-old boy’s wish](http://time.com/4401427/drake-rihanna-tribute-fan-died-cancer/) to have the iconic Fenway Park come to him. Thomas Hastings, of Windsor, Conn, is a baseball fan who has Duchenne Muscular dystrophy and congenital scoliosis. The Boston Red Sox fan’s [biggest dream](http://time.com/4252317/dstrong-boy-cancer-dies-famous-china/) was to have a baseball field fashioned after Fenway Park in his very own backyard where the former Little League athlete could play a game with friends at home, [ABC News reports](https://gma.yahoo.com/10-old-muscular-dystrophy-gets-fantasy-fenway-park-180145648--abc-news-wellness.html). “That’s one of the things that was so great about his wish, it’s giving him back the ability to compete,” Thomas’s father, Brad Hastings, told ABC. “His love for baseball is deep.” Thomas also created his own game plan for what the field would look like, which is why it’s completely flat and accessible for people with disabilities, as he uses a wheelchair half the time. But nothing stopped him from throwing out the opening pitch at “Fantasy Fenway Park” while the crowd cheered him on. “This is the coolest, most impractical thing I’ve ever seen,” Hastings said of the realized wish. “There is nothing here that other people can do that Thomas cannot do.” \[[ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/10-year-muscular-dystrophy-fantasy-fenway-park-backyard/story?id=43013458)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4543676/muscular-dystrophy-fenway-park-wish/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4543676/muscular-dystrophy-fenway-park-wish/"},"headline":"10-Year-Old With Muscular Dystrophy Gets 'Fantasy Fenway Park' in His Backyard","datePublished":"2016-10-24T21:51:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:57.484Z","description":"And he threw out the opening pitch","url":"https://time.com/4543676/muscular-dystrophy-fenway-park-wish/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Sports topic","Baseball","U.S.","Good News","disabilities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55649ba3506c7b3b/6988ab650a4a2248a79cbc6b/gettyimages-613835652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55649ba3506c7b3b/6988ab650a4a2248a79cbc6b/gettyimages-613835652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"American League Division Series - Cleveland Indians v. 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