Comments on: Happy Pumpsie Green Day!

By: sicknsexified

sicknsexified — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:43:51 +0000

Tom Yawkey , was beyond racist and the owner of the Red Sox at that time .. And me being a half african american person living in Boston there are a lot of older people with the same views as Yawkey, no i do not blame them fully because that is the environment they lived in years ago and are still stuck in that era.

By: fquaye149

fquaye149 — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:10:07 +0000

Of course, there’s that apocryphal (or is it confirmed?) story of Joe Cronin’s Red Sox giving Willie Mays a tryout only to keep his back turned the whole time. So the OP is right in theory.

Of course, I wouldn’t call that karma so much as the result of willingly depriving oneself of some of the best players in the game

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:49:21 +0000

Also, read David Halberstam’s “October 1964.” Has good perspective on how the NL surpassed the AL because it had more teams willing to sign black players. It also describes how the 1964 Cardinals were able to come together as an integrated team and win the World Series.

By: professor59

professor59 — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:54:42 +0000

There were lots of MLB cities back then who wouldn’t support a black player. And of course, the team culture was a big part of it too. According to Richie Ashburn, Boston, Cincinnati and Philadelphia were the worst. Not the fans, but the players would be yelling racial epithets at anyone on a team with a black player.

Even pinch-running must have felt like a life-risking play.

I guess it would be a lot like being gay on a team with Kobe today.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:52:21 +0000

It’s not karma that kept the Red Sox from winning for so long. It was poor management. The morality of racism aside, it’s just bad business, shutting yourself off from a talent pipeline.

I’m a Red Sox fan, but the Yawkey years were not the franchise’s shining era.

By: The Common Man

The Common Man — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:17:27 +0000

And on the right side, I should say.

By: The Common Man

The Common Man — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:16:50 +0000

And yet, the Sox still integrated before integration was ok in many places in this country. This doesn’t excuse their racism, or that of MLB in general for keeping blacks out until 1947, but it is gratifying that baseball was on the front line of the fight for equal rights.

By: fenwaywest

fenwaywest — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:22:06 +0000

The Red Sox actually had a tryout for Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays! But racist owner Tom Yawkey was said to have yelled, ” get those n*****ers off of the field.” I am as big a Sox fan as there is and I agree that racism is the main reason that the Sox went so long without a W.S. championship.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:00:24 +0000

Chris – it can’t be a coincidence that the Red Sox went so long between championships and were the last team to play a black man. I don’t see how anyone can disagree with this. On the flip side, why didn’t some team grab all of the available black players after Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby? Only racism and the fear of fan backlash because of racism prevented it. They could have dominated MLB for years with an all-black all-star team. The Sox weren’t the only ones to pass on Willie Mays et al, they were just the worst offenders.

By: tuftsb

tuftsb — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:26:06 +0000

For some historical background on the issue, read “Shut Out” by Howard Bryant.

By: theonlynolan

theonlynolan — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:06:02 +0000

That it took until 1959 for the Red Sox to integrate is the biggest black eye on the organization’s long history. In addition, it is inexcusable that Tom Yawkey has a plaque in Cooperstown while Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, a more successful executive, does not. The racist mindset of Yawkey set the franchise back at least a decade.

By: The Baseball Idiot

The Baseball Idiot — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:59:42 +0000

They signed several black players, who spent time in the minors. Green was the first to appear in the Majors.

It doesn’t excuse Boston, but it is two different things.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:54:44 +0000

It’s always nice to see so many thumbs down and not a single comment as to why.

To all the Red Sox fans out there who I may have offended, I want to extend my deepest apologies and tell you all that I was wrong. I am sure the reason the Red Sox didn’t win a World Series was solely the curse of the Bambino and had nothing to do with Karma. Really.

Oh, and how commendable of the Red Sox to finally let a black guy pinch-run halfway through the 1959 season, 12 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

By: jimbo1949

jimbo1949 — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:54:20 +0000

Must be the Babe’s ghost giving you thumbs down.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:17:37 +0000

So the Red Sox didn’t sign a black baseball player for 12 years after Jackie Robinson’s debut? And people wonder why they didn’t win a World Series from 1918 to 2004? It wasn’t the curse of Babe Ruth. It was karma biting them in the ass.