THE OWNERS-TOM YAWKEY

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW YORK GIANTS!

Dear Mr. Rex Ryan,

That's how you do it!

Owner Tom Yawkey purchased the Boston Red Sox in 1933 and for the next 44 years tried to build winning teams. His teams' best seasons were in 1946, '67 and '75 when the Red Sox captured the American League pennant, and lost each World Series in seven games. Yawkey also served as American League vice president from 1956 to 1973.

Yawkey purchased the Red Sox for $1.2million. The Red Sox had been perennial losers of the American League for more than a decade. The famous Babe Ruth sale after a dreadful 111-loss season which is still the worst losing record in franchise history. Yawkey hired Collins, who recommended he buy the club as general manager and instructed him to buy as much talent as possible to turn the team around.

Yawkey devoted his time and finances for the rest of his life to building winning teams. His teams' best seasons occurred in 1946, 1967, and 1975, when the Red Sox captured the American League pennant, and then went on to lose each World Series in seven games against the St. Louis Cardinals (1946, 1967) and Cincinnati Reds (1975). He would never achieve his ultimate goal of winning a World Series championship.

Mr. & Mrs. Tom Yawkey

But it was under his ownership when baseball integrated, and his team was the very last to do so. Some people say he conducted sham tryouts for black players, including Jackie Robinson. It wasn’t until 1959 that the Red Sox saw their first black player, Elijah Green, 12 years after Jackie Robinson’s debut with Brooklyn and three years after his retirement. For some strange reason, if a black player was on the tea, it wasn’t for long as he was traded away without explanation.

The Red Sox went from being a perennial contender to failing to finish within 10 games of first place for 17 years (1950–1966), because they favored the traditional lumbering ballplayers who were quickly becoming out of style.

Tom Yawkey's uncle, later his adoptive father, was at one time the owner of the Detroit Tigers.

“I never look back. I love baseball and you have to be patient and take the good with the bad. After all, it's only a game.”-Tom Yawkey

TOMORROW: Charlie Finley

That's all I wrote, Folks!