On Wednesday, Raymond Beasley got to meet Sharon Robinson, daughter of baseball Hall-of-Famer Jackie Robinson. The baseball legend was Sharon's inspiration in creating the essay contest entitled "Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life."
In his essay, MLB officials say Raymond described how he has overcome multiple surgeries for a brain tumor in addition to being the only deaf student in his school. Despite those challenges, he has always had what he called an "outstanding life."
"Incredible young man," Sharon said. "It was wondering to honor him. His essay was strong and positive. He didn't get knocked down. He had the brain tumor, but the brain tumor didn't have him."
Raymond was also recognized by the San Francisco Giant's before Wednesday night's game.
And in July he will be honored during the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game in Minneapolis.
According to the MLB, Raymond's essay won the top prize out of nearly 19,000 essays that poured in from students nationwide, along with Canada and Puerto Rico.
(Bay City News contributed to this report)
