9-year-old Minnesota boy's legacy lives on through game he loved

Summer time is THE perfect time for baseball, but on Sunday afternoon on team was playing the game with a purpose.

Team Tucker stepped up to the plate for the charity’s first event: an afternoon of baseball for kids in Hopkins, Minnesota in memory of Tucker Helstrom, a nine-year-old who loved baseball and people.

“I wish he could be here because this is what he would want to do,” Tucker’s mom Dana Helstrom O’Brien told Fox 9.

Tucker passed away from a rare bone cancer 11 months ago.

Tucker’s pals from all over town came out to play a game he loved, from his buddies at school to his famous friend, Wild forward Jason Zucker.

“Everyone wanted to be around him,” Zucker said. “Everyone wanted to play, laugh and love.”

Every kid who gathered to play for Tucker got a free glove to learn how to play ball, but the true lesson was to remember to always have fun. 

“The kids here that love Tucker warms my heart,” Helstrom O’Brien said. “The kids here playing that never knew Tucker, but are having a better afternoon and hopefully summer because of Tucker is what it is all about. That’s what is going to help me fill some of the grief.”