Boston’s Public Improvement Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal by Red Sox ownership to change the name of the iconic Yawkey Way, christened 40 years ago to honor racist former owner Tom Yawkey. From now on, the street outside Fenway Park will be known as Jersey Street, as it was before being dubbed Yawkey Way in 1977.
The Red Sox asked the city to change Yawkey Way’s name in February, about nine months after Orioles outfielder Adam Jones described being called a racial slur by fans in the Fenway Park bleachers. That incident prompted much examination of the history of racism in Boston and within the Red Sox organization and seems to have led to the decision to ditch the Yawkey Way name.
On Thursday, with “Yawkey Way” officially on its way out, the Red Sox issued a statement praising the Public Improvement Commission. Via ESPN:
“We recognize we have a long way to go, but remain committed to building a spirit of diversity, inclusivity, and openness within our front office and our ballpark,” the team said. “We look forward to working with the business and civic leaders of Boston to continue to bring about social change in our community.”
The Tom Yawkey Foundation, as you might expect, was not so pleased.
“As we have said throughout this process, the effort to expunge Tom Yawkey’s name has been based on a false narrative about his life and his historic 43-year ownership of the Red Sox,” the organization said. “The drastic step of renaming the street, now officially sanctioned by the city of Boston (and contradicting the honor the city bestowed upon Tom Yawkey over 40 years ago), will unfortunately give lasting credence to that narrative and unfairly tarnish his name.”
Whether or not you think Yawkey Way’s moniker needed to change, there’s no denying the racism of its namesake.
During Yawkey’s tenure as owner from 1933 to 1976, the Red Sox were the slowest team in baseball to integrate, waiting until 12 years after Jackie Robinson debuted to finally sign a black player. Boston, under Yawkey’s leadership, tried out and rejected Robinson, then quashed a scout’s plan to sign Willie Mays. The Red Sox’s stubborn reluctance to sign black players was a big reason the team failed to win a World Series over Yawkey’s four-plus decades as owner.
It’s possible that the rechristening of Yawkey Way will cause Yawkey’s memory to slip from Red Sox fans’ consciousness. But given the fact his most notable achievement was keeping talented players out of Boston due to the color of their skin, that’s probably not such a bad thing.
[ESPN]
