Yawkey morse code to stay on Fenway Park’s scoreboard

Recently the Boston Red Sox ownership requested a name change for Yawkey Way, the street that runs next to Fenway Park which is named after one of the previous owners of the Bosox, Tom Yawkey. But despite this request, the club is not seeking to remove the name of Yawkey and his wife in Morse code that adorns the scoreboard that is integrated into the Green Monster.

The Red Sox owners ship wants to distance itself from the racist legacy of Tom Yawkey and has requested the city of Boston to rename the street into Jersey Street like the street was named before it was named after Yawkey.

The Red Sox were the last major league team to integrate, as they did more than a decade  (1959) after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947. While Yawkey and the Red Sox were scouting Negro Leagues players in the mid-1940s (indeed, the Red Sox gave Robinson a tryout and passed on signing Willie Mays), his opposition to actually pulling the trigger on a signing and MLB roster spot is certainly a stain on the Yawkey legacy. After Robinson’s tryout, he allegedly said: “Get that (n-word) out of here.”

Last Monday, the club expressed its intentions not to remove the morse code. Despite his questionable legacy, Yawkey is the man who made Fenway Park what it is today so it would be ignoring your history if you would remove everything that is linked to him. In that case, you should remove Williamsburg (the bullpens in right field) and several seating sections as well.

In an email, the club stated “The petition (to rename Yawkey Way) is an effort to continue to work towards inclusion at Fenway Park, not an effort to erase the Yawkey legacy from the ballpark entirely. The name on our front door is very different from other areas of Fenway Park that showcase the history of the Yawkey era. We have no plans to remove other references or tributes to him.”

Boston’s Public Improvement Commission will not deal with the request of renaming Yawkey Road until March 15.