Yawkey, Tom

Yawkey, (Thomas Austin) Tom

(1903–76) baseball executive; born in Detroit, Mich. Nephew of Bill Yawkey who had once owned the Detroit Tigers, and heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune, he attended Yale (where he played second base) and had been looking for a major league team to own when the Boston Red Sox came up for purchase in 1933. He was actively involved in running the Red Sox until his death (his 44 years was the second longest any major league team had been owned by one individual) and he was willing to spend his own money in pursuit of a world series championship that always eluded him. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980.