Red Sox president: Yawkey Way 'made folks feel uncomfortable' about Fenway

Red Sox owner John Henry may not be the the only one in Boston who wants to rename Yawkey Way.

Henry revealed Thursday he hopes to petition the city to rename the street on which Fenway Park resides because he's "haunted" by the accusations of racism regarding the club's late, former owner Tom Yawkey.

Meanwhile, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy added that while the club isn't thinking about disassociating Yawkey's name entirely from the team, a plethora of feedback from fans also contributed to the organization's push to remove his name from the bordering road.

"I don't have a list of everything Yawkey related and no one is suggesting that we wipe out or erase our past or history at all," Kennedy told CSNNE's Evan Drellich. "In fact, I think it's important to understand our history.

"The real issue here is, it's symbolic and it's something that is powerful and we have heard from many people in the community that it is something that has made folks feel uncomfortable about coming to Fenway. That's been troubling to us. So I don't think you're going to see anyone trying to completely erase our history."

All property owners on the street would have to sign a petition to the city signaling their agreement in order to successfully remove Yawkey's name, though Henry said he expects the Red Sox to lead that charge due in part to recent events in the United States in which Confederate-era statues - and their possible removals - are being protested.

Born in Detroit in 1903, Yawkey bought the Red Sox in 1933 and owned the team until his death on July 9, 1976. His ownership tenure was shrouded in racial controversy, however, as the Red Sox were the last team to integrate their major-league roster. They finally did so when they fielded Pumpsie Green on Sept. 5, 1959 - over 12 years after Jackie Robinson first broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.