The New York Times-20080129-Belated Support Puts Boston Ahead of Curve

Return to: The_New_York_Times-20080129

Belated Support Puts Boston Ahead of Curve

Full Text (815  words)

The Boston Red Sox were the last major league team to have a black player (Pumpsie Green in 1959), and now, half a century later, it appeared they were using Jackie Robinson for their own self-interest.

On second glance, it turns out the Red Sox aren't as bad as all that, but as with Green, it took them too long to do the right thing. On the other hand, they are ahead of 22 other teams.

I'm thrilled the Red Sox are on board, said Della Britton Baeza, president and chief executive of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. When I came here we had three teams; now we have eight.

Baeza was talking about the number of teams that sponsor Jackie Robinson scholars, that is, fund college scholarships at $10,000 a year for four years.

The Red Sox have their own foundation, and according to a news release, the foundation is to receive all net proceeds from a $50-a-ticket panel discussion Friday on the legacy of Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier in 1947. Bill Russell, the former N.B.A. great, will be one of the panelists.

Nothing wrong with charging $50 a ticket, but there is plenty wrong with all proceeds going to the Red Sox Foundation and nothing to the Robinson Foundation. That would be like Ford's using Derek Jeter in a television commercial and not paying him for it.

I have no doubt that the Red Sox Foundation performs noble and worthy deeds. The team's media guide says that in the five years before last season, the foundation generated more than $18 million in donations to hundreds of nonprofit programs.

But only $3,000 of that money went to the Robinson foundation.

Meg Vaillancourt, the executive director of the Red Sox Foundation, said Monday that the foundation decided last November to fund a Jackie Robinson scholar after a request from the Robinson foundation.

Vaillancourt said that Friday's panel discussion was a first for the Robinson celebration, and that the Red Sox didn't expect to make any money from it. She said 150 to 200 people were expected to attend, and half of those would be invited guests.

The money from the event this weekend will basically go to subsidizing this event, John Blake, the team's vice president for media relations, said.

At least the Red Sox have decided to sponsor a Robinson scholar. The program might be the best educational effort in the country. According to foundation figures, 97 percent of the scholarship recipients graduate from college compared with the national rate of 40.5 percent for African-American students.

The eight teams that are enrolled in the scholars program are the Mets, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the White Sox, the Astros, the Rangers, the Giants and the Red Sox.

My mission is to get as many teams as we can to support our efforts, Baeza said. The way I look at it is: 'O.K., we got the Red Sox done. Now let's get the next team.' I've got a little map in my office with team names. The teams are obvious places for us to go.

Something is missing here. Last April 15, Major League Baseball celebrated the 60th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut. For that occasion, Commissioner Bud Selig said he believed Robinson's influence will continue to be felt for decades to come.

Selig could enhance that influence by lobbying -- that would be better than ordering -- the other 22 teams to sponsor Robinson scholars. At $10,000 a year for four years, the cost for teams would be 10 percent of the minimum salary they will pay players in 2009.

The return for a team would be more rewarding than the performances of some of their minimum-salaried players.

Players, too, could get involved. With the average salary approaching $3 million, players could easily afford to sponsor scholarships. Mo Vaughn and Royce Clayton sponsor scholars. So does Michael Jordan. Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation sponsors a scholar and also contributed $42,000 in honor of the 60th anniversary. Another sponsor is the Yawkey Foundation, named for the Yawkey family, a previous owner of the Red Sox.

The Robinson foundation, which is 35 years old, is also in the midst of a $25 million fund-raising campaign to build a Jackie Robinson Museum in Lower Manhattan.

Just as they have been major contributors to the scholars program, the Mets and the Yankees have contributed heavily to the museum drive, each making a seven-figure donation. Baeza said the foundation had gone slightly beyond the midway point in its fund-raising effort.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, will celebrate Robinson's legacy Thursday and Friday.

The two events we're doing are to raise awareness and community outreach, Blake said.

It took the Red Sox awhile, but they finally raised their awareness and reached out.

[Illustration]PHOTO: Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier, signing his contract with Brooklyn in 1947. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIATED PRESS)