Inspired by Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball’s major leagues in 1947, Lloyd Daniel “Dan” Ramsey Sr. resumed his baseball career in hopes of following in Robinson’s footsteps.
In the late 1940s, Ramsey began playing with the Atlanta Black Braves of the Negro Southern League and attending Major League Baseball tryout camps.
While he never made it to the majors, Ramsey achieved his own milestones. He became the first black labor union representative at his workplace and was admired as a community leader and mentor.
The Decatur resident died on Sept. 13 of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 86. His funeral was Sept. 19 at First Baptist Church in southeast Atlanta.
Born on Oct. 3, 1928, in Lincolnton, Ga., Ramsey was the sixth of seven children. He began playing baseball as a child. His father, a sharecropper, instilled the Christian values of love and forgiveness.
“Those were the kind of values he grew up on and that he passed on to his children,” said his son Kerry Ramsey of Stone Mountain.
After graduating from high school in 1945, Ramsey spent two years in the Army. Two years later, he moved to Atlanta and got caught up in the excitement of the desegregation of the major leagues and joined the Atlanta Black Braves.
Ramsey was a right fielder known for his speed, defensive skills and as a strong line drive hitter, said former teammate Charles E. “Peter Rabbit” Usher of Atlanta.
“He was an excellent player, very competitive,” Usher said. “When I joined the team, he took me under his wing. The Black Braves were a winning team. We had a lot of good players in the Negro League.”
The Black Braves played about 40 games a year. Whenever Ramsey and Usher heard that Major League scouts were in town, they showed up for tryouts.
In 1949, Ramsey began working as a truck driver for the Swift meat packing company and continued playing baseball on weekends.
He married Atlanta native Louise Austin in 1953. In addition to their six kids, the couple helped raise several of their family members’ children. Ramsey also mentored aspiring young athletes. He retired from the Black Braves in the early 1960s.
“He was an excellent spotter of athletic talent,” his son said. “He always stressed the importance of young black athletes getting an education.”
At work, Ramsey lobbied for better pay and working conditions for black employees. In the late 1950s, he became the first black union representative to help negotiate contracts at Swift.
He later joined the Teamsters union in 1965 when he worked for East Texas Motor Freight Lines and took a job with the Jones Trucking Line in 1975.
Known for his strong work ethic on the job and on the ballfield, Ramsey was a stickler for timeliness and was a caring leader in the community and the church, Usher said.
“He was a fine gentleman and family man, without a doubt,” Usher said. “He was always trying to guide and teach other people. His children grew up to be outstanding people.”
After retiring from the Jones Trucking Line in 1991, Ramsey focused on family and community activities. He was a member of the deacon board and the men’s choir at his church and volunteered with Meals on Wheels in DeKalb County.
In 1992, Ramsey received a special achievement award from the Atlanta City Council in recognition of his accomplishments as a Negro League Baseball player.
“Dan was a really good ball player. I thought he should have made the majors,” said his cousin and former Black Braves teammate Albert Ramsey of Oxford, Ga. “But he tried.”
In addition to his son Kerry, Ramsey is survived by his wife Louise Ramsey of Decatur, daughter Pamela Ramsey-Lightburn of Miami; sons Reginald Ramsey of Atlanta, Lloyd Ramsey of Lilburn; Craig Ramsey of Boston and Zachary Ramsey of Marietta; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
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