Jean Yawkey

Jean Remington Yawkey was the wife of Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, who was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in recognition of his long ownership of the venerable American League franchise (1933-1976). Born Jean Hollander in Brooklyn, New York on January 24, 1909), the Long Island-raised Jean was a New York fashion model before marrying the multi-millionaire Yawkey in 1944. When Tom Yawkey died in 1976, the year after the Red Sox lost the 1975 World Series (1975) that many cite as the greatest ever played, Jean took over his role as president of the franchise, a role she served until her own death sixteen years later. Soon after her husband's death, she sold the team to long-time Red Sox executive Haywood Sullivan and former Red Sox trainer Buddy La Roux, but the Sullivan-La Roux regime proved disastrous, and one of the American League's premier franchises began to slide. After La Roux tried to oust his partner in a scheme in which he planned to sell the Red Sox and acquire the Cleveland Indians t turn a quick profit, Major League Baseball stepped in and forced Jean Yawkey to repurchase the team. She became chair of the board of directors of the JRY Corporation, through which she was the majority owner and general partner of the Red Sox. Under Mrs. Yawkey, the Red Sox again began to flourish, reaching the World Series in 1986. The long-suffering Jean and Red Sox fans nearly ended 68 year of frustration during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series (1986), when the Sox were one-strike away from winning the World's Championship that had eluded them since young Babe Ruth was their star left-handed pitcher and part-time hitter. In fact, the scoreboard at Shea Stadium flashed the announcement congratulating the Red Sox for winning the Series, and Mrs. Yawkey was in the press room, ready to accept the trophy that had eluded her husband for 44 years. Then, Mookie Wilson of the Mets hit an easy grounder to Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner, Buckner let the ball scoot through his legs, and the Mets went on to win the 2006 World Series. The World's Championship had again eluded the Yawkey family. The Curse of the Bambino still stood, and would for another 18 years, until the BoSox won the 2004 World Series (2004). Jean Yawkey was the first woman elected to serve as a director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. She died in Boston, Massachusetts on February 26, 1992, at the age of 83.