Walsh: Sox free to remove Morse code tribute to Yawkeys
Mayor Martin J. Walsh says Red Sox owner John Henry can remove a coded Fenway Park tribute to controversial ex-owner Tom Yawkey “immediately” if he wanted to, and suggested the city wouldn’t try to stop him.
“I know John expressed that the issue of this keeps him up at night. This could be a way of resolving some of those issues,” Walsh said yesterday in the wake of a Herald report highlighting Fenway’s own 70-year-old memorial to Yawkey amid calls — from Henry — to change the name of Yawkey Way.
“If he has an issue with the street, there’s a process that has to happen there, it’s somewhat of a lengthy process,” Walsh said. “But that (changing the tribute) could be done immediately. There’s no city regulation stopping them from changing that inside the park.”
The park’s iconic scoreboard in left field includes two white vertical lines that help separate the out-of-town scores and feature the initials of the late Tom Yawkey and his wife, Jean, in Morse code. Yawkey himself had them inscribed into the wall in 1947, according to the team.
Henry has said he’s “haunted” by Yawkey’s racist legacy, going as far to say the Sox should take the lead in renaming nearby Yawkey Way — a move that requires both city and abutter approval.
But when asked on Wednesday if Henry plans to remove the outfield wall memorial, a Red Sox spokeswoman would only say that the team’s “current efforts are focused on petitioning the city to change the street name.”
Walsh didn’t say if he personally wants to see the in-park tribute removed but called the report on it “interesting.”