Red Sox seek to change street name, citing racial history

(RNN) – The Boston Red Sox have petitioned the city of Boston to change the name of an iconic street outside Fenway Park, citing an “unfortunate and undeniable” racial history.

Yawkey Way runs along the back of the main stand of the stadium, behind home plate. It is a crowded thoroughfare on game day, with vendors lining the street and fans packing in to absorb the atmosphere.

It is named for Tom Yawkey, the team’s owner from 1933 until his death in 1976. Yawkey infamously did not integrate the Red Sox until 1959, baseball's last team to do so, when Pumpsie Green became the team’s first black player.

Boston also under Yawkey declined to sign two of the game’s greatest black players. They tried out Jackie Robinson in 1945 and scouted Willie Mays in Alabama a couple years later, deeming neither worthy.

In a statement the Red Sox announced they were seeking the restoration of the street’s original name, Jersey Street. They said the move was meant to “reinforce that Fenway Park is inclusive and welcoming to all.”

Supporters of the Yawkey name included his namesake foundation, one of the largest philanthropic institutions in Boston. It issued a statement saying the organization was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and “based on a false narrative” surrounding Yawkey.

The foundation noted the team’s use of Yawkey’s legacy of “rebuilding the team as well as the ballpark” was cited in a 2012 application to put Fenway Park on the U.S. Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

The Red Sox in their statement sought to emphasize the good works of the foundation without ignoring the history associated with Yawkey.  

“It is important to separate the unfortunate and undeniable history of the Red Sox with regards to race and integration from the incredible charitable work the Yawkey Foundation has accomplished in this millennium,” the statement said.

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