BALTIMORE His name is Daniel Mason and he is 79 years old, and he celebrated Jackie Robinson Day at his usual post, by the right-field escalator at Camden Yards. Out on the field every Yankee and Oriole was wearing No. 42. Daniel Mason didnt have a jersey, just his black Orioles jacket, and an appreciation of April 15, 1947.
Its an important day for all of us, Mason said. It should be. Somebody had to break the color barrier. It opened the doors for all black people. He paused and smiled.
Look around, he said, waving his arm toward the concourse. Not one of us would be here without Jackie Robinson. It didnt matter how good you were. You couldnt play. You couldnt do (a lot of things).
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Daniel Mason was an 11-year-old kid in North Baltimore, barely a home-run ball away not far from where he still lives, the day Robinson integrated Major League Baseball. He doesnt have specific memories of the day, and doesnt remember it immediately changing his life, because his entire world neighborhood and schools was 100% black, so racially drawn he had scant idea of what else was out there.
It wasnt even segregation. Everybody was the same color, Mason said.
Daniel Masons ancestors came from South Carolina, a state that had more slaves per capita than any state in the Union. He knows little of his family history, how many generations before him included slaves and sharecroppers. All he has known is life in this city, where he and his wife of 52 years live and raised their children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren, and where he has always refused to see things through the prism of race. That has never been around me much, Mason said, his voice a raspy mumble, with a thick Southern inflection. People dont treat me in that light. I never looked at things like that. Ive been (at Camden Yards) for 19 years and never had a problem with anybody.
Life has not been easy. Mason dropped out of school in 10th grade. He worked for years as an orderly in a hospital, then as a baggage handler at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Now he directs ballpark visitors to the upper deck, with a ready smile and stock jokes. A man and a woman hold out their tickets and he directs them to the escalator, and says to the woman, Youre with him.
When a Yankee fan who is a Camden Yards regular approaches, Mason waves hello and sends him on his way. Carry on, Mason told him.
He greets every fan warmly, and provides any direction he can give them. It helps to be out, and be busy, taking his mind off things, such as his diabetes. Mason was recently diagnosed with a kidney disorder and is going to be starting dialysis, maybe as soon as this week. He makes it sound as if it is no bigger a deal than a parking ticket.
Take the old blood out, put the new blood in. Ill have to do that for the rest of my life, he said. Its just something I have to do, until I get a kidney transplant. Im on the list, but I dont know when that will be.
On the 68th anniversary of Jackie Robinson playing his first game of baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers, batting second and playing first base before 26,623 fans at Ebbets Field, Daniel Mason didnt need a No. 42 jersey to get in the spirit of the moment. Two women approached the elevator with a man, and he said, Upstairs to your right. Youre with him, and they all laughed.
Under the lights of Camden Yards, in front of the brick warehouse on a pleasant spring night, a fully integrated game of baseball was going on, with players of various backgrounds, and countries. It was a good night to be at work, and to remember how history happened. (Jackie Robinson) caught h**l, but he just kept going, Daniel Mason said. Thats how he got to where he was. He just kept going.
Tags: jackie robinsonSource: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/coffey-recalling-day-jackie-robinson-ushered-new-era-article-1.2187232
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