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‘Haunted’ by Yawkey’s history, Sox seek change
The Red Sox have had enough. At a moment when racial tensions have escalated rapidly and the removal of Confederate statues acts as a flashpoint for violent and racially divisive protests, the Red Sox are ready to start taking down a symbol of their own racially tainted history.
Red Sox principal owner John Henry, saying he’s still “haunted” by the racist legacy of his legendary predecessor Tom Yawkey, told the Herald that his franchise welcomes renaming Yawkey Way. The Sox, he said, should take the lead in the process of rebranding the Jersey Street extension outside Fenway Park that was renamed to honor the former owner in 1977.
Complicated history
Yawkey’s legacy as owner from 1933-76, and then by his widow Jean Yawkey and the Yawkey Trust until Henry bought the team in 2002, was as complicated as it was lengthy.
An inescapable, significant and enduring part of the Yawkey legacy is a racist one, and Yawkey — a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame — oversaw the 12-season stretch from 1947-58, in which the Red Sox watched every other team in Major League Baseball integrate before they became the last club to do so in 1959. That residue will not disappear when Yawkey Way is renamed, but it also does not need to diminish the positive impact the Yawkey Trust, funded primarily by the $700 million sale of the team when Henry came aboard, still makes today for multiple worthy causes in Boston and New England.
Yawkey Way, however, is different.
It is a public street, funded by taxpayer dollars.
It’s also where the Red Sox conduct their business and on game days hold permanent rights, after reaching a controversial deal with the city in 2013, to close the street and sell concessions.
The team is not trying to erase its history, but as Henry said, the time is right for the change and the conversation about race that it will spark.
“I discussed this a number of times with the previous mayoral administration and they did not want to open what they saw as a can of worms,” said Henry in an email. “There are a number of buildings and institutions that bear the same name. The sale of the Red Sox by John Harrington helped to fund a number of very good works in the city done by the Yawkey Foundation (we had no control over where any monies were spent). The Yawkey Foundation has done a lot of great things over the years that have nothing to do with our history.”
If it were up to Henry, he would rename the street “David Ortiz Way” or “Big Papi Way.” But before a new name is considered, the name-change process needs to start with Henry and the one other Yawkey Way abutter petitioning the City of Boston for approval.
“The Red Sox don’t control the naming or renaming of streets,” Henry said. “But for me, personally, the street name has always been a consistent reminder that it is our job to ensure the Red Sox are not just multi-cultural, but stand for as many of the right things in our community as we can — particularly in our African-American community and in the Dominican community that has embraced us so fully. The Red Sox Foundation and other organizations the Sox created such as Home Base have accomplished a lot over the last 15 years, but I am still haunted by what went on here a long time before we arrived.”
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said, “The mayor is supportive of this change.”
Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston NAACP, praised Henry, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy and Jim Rooney, president and CEO of Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce for their “bold leadership,” and added, “I am encouraged by this step forward. Although in some respects some people might say this is ‘symbolic’ or ‘this is simply a street,’ I don’t take this step lightly. I do believe it serves as a turning point for us if we take it as an opportunity that changes the conversation.
“To me, this statement by John Henry is really a continuation of what I have heard and seen the last few months from the Red Sox, and I expect we as a city will see more reactions like this not only from the Red Sox but also from other business leaders.”
Added Kennedy: “John has been very strong on this issue from the day he and (chairman) Tom (Werner) arrived in 2002 and today is another reflection of that. I’m very, very proud to work for an ownership group that is committed to creating an inclusive environment for the fans, the players and the employees. It was a very strong message that John delivered.”
If the Yawkey Way moniker goes, the MBTA’s nearby Yawkey Station name could follow, as the Mass. House of Representatives is considering a bill to rename it.
‘Recognition of the past’
Even after the Red Sox became the final MLB team to integrate, the climate often remained chilly and hostile to players of color.
The Sox skipped the opportunity to sign Jackie Robinson two years before the Dodgers signed him to break the MLB color barrier, and then again passed on a shot to sign Willie Mays two years after baseball was integrated by Robinson in 1947. Yawkey and his associates didn’t find an African-American player worthy to make their team until Pumpsie Green joined in 1959.
In later years, the Red Sox’ roster construction began to be handled with a more color-blind style, and the complexion of the Red Sox began to resemble other teams. But racial issues did not disappear. Former outfielder and coach Tommy Harper’s 1986 Elks Club anti-discrimination lawsuit was a lowlight, with Harper noting that the gathering spot in the club’s Winter Haven, Fla., spring training home was still segregated.
While this year’s Red Sox team fields more players of color on an everyday basis than any in recent history, the current ownership has not been able to escape being thrust into ugly racial episodes.
David Price reported that he heard racial taunts while warming up in the bullpen at Fenway last year. In May, Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones reported that he heard the a racial slur directed at him plus had a bag of peanuts thrown at him.
The team reacted swiftly to the Jones incident, vowing to make the ballpark a safe haven from racism. Renaming Yawkey Way would be another step.
Kennedy said the Red Sox were “deeply troubled and saddened” by alleged events of a racial nature earlier in the year at Fenway, and added that “obviously the events going on around us in the world are extremely troubling.
“So, I guess John felt now was the time to send a message. It’s one symbol. I don’t think there’s an indictment of any one person. It’s a recognition of the past that is shameful with respect to us being the last team to integrate.”
The Red Sox, who still have many employees who worked under Jean Yawkey and remember her fondly, began an internal discussion about changing the name of the street which gives Fenway Park — 4 Yawkey Way — its address.
They reached consensus, Henry said, to favor a name change.
“We ought to be able to lead the effort and if others in the community favor a change, we would welcome it — particularly in light of the country’s current leadership stance with regard to intolerance,” Henry said.
The road to change
Practically speaking, the process for renaming a public street in Boston where there are no residents requires a petition to be launched by the abutters. All abutters must sign it.
Of the six parcels with Yawkey Way addresses, there are only two abutters: Henry’s Red Sox and the D’Angelo family, owners of the merchandise shops across from Fenway. The D’Angelos are on board. “I understand the way the climate is around the Red Sox that they would potentially want to do something like that,” said Bobby D’Angelo, son of the formerly named Twins souvenir shop’s founder Arthur D’Angelo.
D’Angelo, who spoke before Henry said he welcomed a change, said renaming the street would “not be a big deal at all.”
“Honestly, we’re not talking about a human being here, we’re talking about the name of a street,” he said. “I can’t lose sleep over Yawkey Way changing its name, there’s just too many other things in this world to worry about. That’s the last thing we would worry about.
“We don’t look at this thing as a monumental change. It may be in the city’s eyes, a Yawkey Way name change, but the only thing it changes is our stationery. Besides that, that’s life.”