Teen gets All-Star seat thanks to generous stranger

By Ann Rubin

KSDK -- It was a dream come true for a teen with cystic fibrosis. Brandon Phillips from southeastern Illinois got to see his first baseball game, the All-Star game, on Tuesday night thanks to the generosity of one sports photographer, who figures his great vantage point near the field should be shared.

And what a vantage point it was, photographer Dick Druckman had two front row seats behind home plate. And he gave one of them to a new friend he met through St. Louis Children's Hospital.

The pair arrived by private car, having just met a few minutes before.

"When we pulled up to the hotel I was like dang, I'm underdressed for this hotel. And then I heard he had a car for us and I was like well then I'm underdressed for that," Phillips said.

But for baseball, Phillips was dressed just right. This would be his first Major League game ever.

"I've had tickets three other times through my life and every time I've went in the hospital," he said.

Brandon has cystic fibrosis, a disease that affects his lungs. And it was his most recent stay at St. Louis Children's Hospital that led to this opportunity.

"I called Children's Hospital and said hey can you give me a patient who would like to go to the game? They said we have a perfect person!" Druckman said.

Dick Druckman is a professional sports photographer with a company called Gold Medal Impressions and he often covers big events. But he doesn't go alone. He says he was inspired by his wife, a cancer survivor, to take a deserving kid along with him.

"When she got better I vowed I was going to try to do something good," he said.

And so he has. Today he gave Brandon the full baseball experience, from souvenirs and snacks, to the best seats in the house.

"This time I actually got out of the hospital in time for the game. And this is my first baseball game and being as it's the All-Star game that's pretty surreal," Phillips said.

The only problem with this: after seeing an All-Star Game with front row seats, all future baseball games might be a bit of a let down.

"What can you say? It's just surreal," Phillips said.

They're the perfect place for Druckman to get some photos and for Brandon Phillips to get some memories that will last a lifetime.

"It means the world to me. It's just unbelievable," he said.

And after all the build-up, Brandon was not disappointed. He says the part he was most excited about seeing Albert Pujols.