From Yawkey Way Back to Jersey Street

John Henry and the Red Sox over the past year have been thinking of changing the street name “Yawkey Way”. They recently filed a petition to name it back to what it was before, Jersey Street. This may really be breaking news, as we all know why the ownership is pushing for this to happen.

Tom Yawkey, the old owner for the Red Sox for over 40 years, wasn’t the greatest guy ever. Although he did some great things to help out the community throughout his tenure, he was also a racist.

When Jackie Robinson was first coming to be, Yawkey wasn’t interested in signing him because of his race. His prejudice heavily swayed who could and could not play for his team. Because of this, the Red Sox were the last team to have a nonwhite player on their team.

One reason why it’s so important for this change to be made is because it’s 2018. There is no place for racism under any circumstance. The Red Sox have always been looked at as a racist organization, and they need to find a way to get past that.

Time to Take Action

If the name isn’t going to be Jersey Street, I would love for it to be something incorporating Ted Williams. Someone who is possibly the greatest hitter to ever live, and who took time off to fight in two wars. Plus, he was very supportive of African-American players. But if it’s going to go back to being Jersey Street, it’s certainly a better name than what it is now. I would be okay with it.

The reason the Red Sox have to file a petition for this is because the team doesn’t have control of the street name. But what do they have control of? The fact that Tom and his wife Jean Yawkey’s initials are written on the Green Monster in Morse code. So if they can’t get rid of the street name right now, they can at least get rid of those initials on the monster.

The Red Sox aren’t a racist organization now, of course. No team in the MLB is discriminatory whatsoever. But as far as the Red Sox go, they need to move forward from their controversial past.

 

Cover image courtesy of cbssports.com