Haunted By Legacy, Red Sox Owner Wants To Rename Yawkey Way
BOSTON (AP) - The Boston Red Sox's principal owner says he wants to take steps to rename a Fenway Park street that has been an enduring reminder of the franchise's complicated racial past.
John Henry told the Boston Herald that he is "haunted" by the racist legacy of former owner Tom Yawkey and that he welcomes renaming of Yawkey Way in front of the ballpark and offices.
Yawkey owned the Red Sox from 1933 to 1976 and presided over a franchise that was the last in Major League Baseball to field a black player. That was in 1959, more than a decade after Jackie
Robinson played for the Dodgers, and even after Willie O'Ree took the ice for Boston in the National Hockey League.
The team must petition the city of Boston to change the name.
Yawkey died in 1976 and the street was named for him in 1977. His widow, Jean Yawkey, and the Yawkey Trust held the team until Henry bought the team in 2002.
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