tom yawkey

The owners hold a secret meeting lead by Tom Yawkey to defend color barrier

1946 – At the Owners’ Meeting, a committee formed to study integration, which includes Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, delivers its secretive report defending the covert color barrierwhich exists in professional baseball. The absurd reasons given why blacks shouldn’t be allowed to play in the big leagues include an absence of skills due to inferior training and lack of fundamentals as well as the need to respect existing Negro League contracts, but another lesser known motivation may have been profit, as revealed later in the report: “The Negro leagues rent their parks in many cities from clubs in Organized Baseball (and) Club owners in the major leagues are reluctant to give up revenues amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars every year” and the fear white fans would be driven away if black players attracted more minorities to the ballpark.

An early afternoon five-hour blaze destroys much of Fenway Park’s newly-constructed left-field grandstand and center-field bleachers

An early afternoon five-hour blaze destroys much of Fenway Park’s newly-constructed left-field grandstand and center-field bleachers

An early afternoon five-hour blaze destroys much of Fenway Park’s newly-constructed concrete and steel left-field grandstand and center-field bleachers, that were built to replace the wooden structures in the 22 year-old ballpark. Tom Yawkey, the Red Sox’s new owner, will have construction crews work overtime to rebuild the team’s home in time for the season opener against Washington on April 17.

tom yawkey
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Tom Yawkey is born in Detroit, Michigan. Born under the name Thomas Austin

On February 21, 1903, future Hall of Fame owner Tom Yawkey is born in Detroit, Michigan. Born under the name Thomas Austin, Yawkey will own and operate the Boston Red Sox for 44 years. He will gain Hall of Fame election in 1980. @ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@ [jetpack_subscription_form title=”Join the Community” subscribe_text=”We bring you cool stories about the game, players, ballparks…