Meeting Mason

When you are a kid, you dream of being a Major League Baseball player. You think about standing in the batter’s box facing a Cy Young caliber pitcher. You imagine diving to field a ball for the 3rd out in the World Series. You hope that one day you will be mobbed by your teammates for driving in the winning run, as I was on the last day of this past season. As a kid, these are the things you imagine would be special.

What you can’t imagine are all the other opportunities that come with playing baseball at the highest level. I had no idea what it would feel like to take the field at Yankee Stadium and hear the famous ‘roll call’ from the bleachers behind me - or how I would fill up with pride seeing someone wear a jersey with my name and number. It’s still surprising, and humbling to me when a young fan says he wants to play like me. There are moments each day I never would have expected, and yet they are all part of the connectedness I feel with fans around the country.

This summer, I had a special opportunity I never imagined. I met Mason.

You may have seen a video of Mason opening baseball cards with his Dad, a ritual they have taken part in since Mason’s first cancer diagnosis. In the video, the father-son duo took a moment to pray that the next pack would hold a special one-of-a-kind card. It did. The card was my 2021 Topps Diamond Icons 1-of-1 card. The two erupted in screams in the video and touched people around the world.

As a kid, I am not sure I ever imagined there would be a baseball card with my picture on it, let alone a Topps Diamond Icons 1-of-1 card. I can’t find the words to share how touched I was to see the joy that card brought to a kid that has had such a tough fight. A fight, I am sure he and his family never imagined. With the help of a lot of people, and some luck, the following week I was able to meet Mason and sign that card. While the card may have featured me, this meeting wasn’t about me. It was about Mason. Mason is the one that I would like to be like. He has battled back from cancer four times, and yet moves around with that contagious smile on his face. He is more than a survivor. Mason is a leader that shows the world how to tackle any problem - with grace, with warmth, and with grit.

Unfortunately, my baseball season didn’t end like I would’ve wanted. Yet, I will get back to work, making sure I am ready to help the Yankees get all the way to the end of the playoffs next year! I will work hard, I will pray, and I will think of Mason. We need more Masons.