WEBVTT 00:01.201 --> 00:02.702 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - The Red Sox had a line on Willie Mays 00:02.702 --> 00:05.138 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% before anybody else, in 1948, when Mays was 17 years old. 00:05.138 --> 00:08.108 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And Willie told me that, as a teenager, 00:08.108 --> 00:10.210 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% he went and told all of his friends 00:10.210 --> 00:11.878 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that the Red Sox were coming down to look at him, 00:11.878 --> 00:13.446 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and that he was going to the Major Leagues 00:13.446 --> 00:14.848 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% as a member of the Red Sox. 00:14.848 --> 00:17.117 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But I remember speaking with him 00:17.117 --> 00:18.385 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and him telling me point blank 00:18.385 --> 00:20.820 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that it was Tom Yawkey that didn't want him, 00:20.820 --> 00:22.489 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% that the Red Sox didn't want him. 00:23.623 --> 00:25.725 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - So do you think Tom Yawkey was racist, 00:25.725 --> 00:27.660 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% or you just think he was not willing to-- 00:27.660 --> 00:28.895 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - Of course Tom Yawkey was a racist. 00:28.895 --> 00:31.398 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% There's no reason to have this debate. 00:31.398 --> 00:33.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% His resume is on the field. 00:35.335 --> 00:37.404 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - I was happy when some of that came out 00:37.404 --> 00:38.872 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and when some of that had to be addressed. 00:38.872 --> 00:41.141 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And I know it was uncomfortable at times for people, 00:41.141 --> 00:42.642 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% but too bad. 00:42.642 --> 00:45.478 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You can't have this beloved franchise 00:46.946 --> 00:50.517 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and not address the really huge smudge over all of it. 00:50.517 --> 00:52.585 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - The Red Sox have a shameful past 00:52.585 --> 00:54.187 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% with respect to race relations. 00:54.187 --> 00:56.089 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We were the last team to integrate. 00:56.089 --> 00:59.492 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that is something that we live with forever. 00:59.492 --> 01:01.327 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I think it's important to acknowledge it. 01:01.327 --> 01:03.530 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And the last 20 years we've tried to make sure 01:03.530 --> 01:05.765 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that Fenway is welcoming to all of Boston, 01:05.765 --> 01:07.634 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% all of New England, all of the world. 01:09.202 --> 01:10.870 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - In the end, do you think anything 01:10.870 --> 01:12.405 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% had to do with the city of Boston? 01:12.405 --> 01:15.675 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The city of Boston was not really pushing integration 01:15.675 --> 01:19.145 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in the baseball team, or it was really Yawkey himself? 01:19.145 --> 01:20.480 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - Well, it's all the above. 01:21.614 --> 01:23.616 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Boston's a tough place. 01:23.616 --> 01:25.185 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I grew up here, I was born here, 01:25.185 --> 01:28.621 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and it's not a welcoming place. 01:28.621 --> 01:30.924 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% When I was a kid, it was not a welcoming place. 01:30.924 --> 01:32.592 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You wouldn't know that there were Black people 01:32.592 --> 01:37.497 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% from Boston based on how this city has marketed its own. 01:37.497 --> 01:40.567 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Reporter] Back then, 1983, there were no Black families 01:40.567 --> 01:42.769 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in this or any Southie project. 01:42.769 --> 01:44.404 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Four years later, 01:44.404 --> 01:47.273 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% there are still no Black families in South Boston projects. 01:47.273 --> 01:51.077 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - The city of Boston has always been kind of a tribal, 01:51.077 --> 01:53.279 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% parochial, provincial. 01:53.279 --> 01:54.914 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% East Boston's the Italian people, 01:54.914 --> 01:55.882 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the North End's the Italian people. 01:55.882 --> 01:57.250 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And the Irish are in Southie. 01:57.250 --> 01:58.518 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And Black people in Roxbury. 01:58.518 --> 02:00.587 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And that doesn't change. 02:00.587 --> 02:02.889 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - As much as I love the Red Sox, 02:02.889 --> 02:07.894 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I never thought as a kid of going, 02:08.761 --> 02:10.897 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% actually going to Fenway Park, 02:10.897 --> 02:15.902 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% because I figured I would probably face some type of racism, 02:17.337 --> 02:22.342 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% or prejudice, or hear the hard R inward, you know? 02:23.676 --> 02:26.346 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And, as a kid, that probably would've crushed me, 02:26.346 --> 02:28.148 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% being such a fan of baseball. 02:28.148 --> 02:30.717 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (somber music) 02:32.418 --> 02:34.721 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - At the end of the day, the thing that you always 02:34.721 --> 02:37.857 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% have to remember is that there are beating hearts to this. 02:37.857 --> 02:39.893 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We're talking about people who really, 02:39.893 --> 02:43.963 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% really wanted to enjoy this and didn't get a chance to. 02:43.963 --> 02:45.899 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And that's the reason why the Red Sox 02:45.899 --> 02:47.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% are so important to this region, 02:47.433 --> 02:49.836 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and that's also why they carry such a heavy burden. 02:53.306 --> 02:55.475 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% What really separates the Red Sox 02:55.475 --> 02:58.778 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% was the fact that even after integration 02:58.778 --> 03:00.647 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the Red Sox still didn't sign Black players. 03:00.647 --> 03:02.081 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The Boston Red Sox did not sign 03:02.081 --> 03:05.185 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% a Black free agent until 1992. 03:05.185 --> 03:07.654 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The Red Sox unwillingness to sign Black players, 03:07.654 --> 03:08.788 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% there's your curse. 03:08.788 --> 03:10.323 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You get players, you win.