Boston Red Sox: Top 5 Best name replacements for Yawkey Way

Yesterday Boston Red Sox principal owner John Henry told the Boston Herald that he’s still “haunted” by the racism displayed of his legendary predecessor Tom Yawkey. He also said that his franchise welcomes the renaming of Yawkey Way.

Yawkey led the Red Sox to become the last MLB team to integrate. Teams began integrating in 1947 and Yawkey didn’t start until 1959. Yawkey had the opportunity to sign both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays, yet he neglected to follow through on either player.

Whether you call it racist, dumb, or both, Henry and the Red Sox want the street name changed.

Henry said that if it were up to him, he’d just rename the street after David Ortiz but there’s a long process to renaming streets and it must go through the City of Boston for approval.

So, with this all of happening, it’s fun to think of the top five street names to replace Yawkey Way. As it stands now, Yawkey Way is a very important and notable landmark at Fenway Park. Even after they change the name to whatever it will be, the street will still be known as “Yawkey Way” for another 20 to 30 years.

The bottom line is that the new name of the street has to be notable and the player (or manager’s) contributions to the team have to be well-known.