After almost two years, the Red Sox are taking down their 254-foot Black Lives Matter billboard that has been stationed behind Fenway Park facing the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Bekah Salwasser, the Sox’ executive vice president of social impact and executive director of the Red Sox Foundation, told the Herald on Thursday that the organization has been proud of its support for the BLM movement, but now wants to use that signage to promote the 20th anniversary of the foundation. The change of billboards will take place in the next couple of days.

“We felt it very important to take advantage of one of the most prominent tools this organization has, which is this billboard, to really shed a light on and celebrate the 20 years of incredible impact the Red Sox Foundation has had across New England,” Salwasser said.
— Boston Herald, 3/24/22

Don’t get me started again on the unfortunate impact and imposition of halfricans who are absorbed into legitimate businesses to create “social impact” through division they magnify to justify their existence. Yes, the Red Sox have unruly fans but so does a lot of other teams and while racism shouldn’t be tolerated, at least there aren’t the assaults, knifings, shootings and the people falling to their deaths from upper decks we hear about happening in other stadiums around the nation.

Call me old fashioned but as a lifelong Red Sox fan who starting at age 8, walked down Massachusetts Avenue from Central Square, across the bridge to Kenmore Square (okay, if I had an additional quarter, I’d take the T), and went to day and night games when bleacher seats cost $1, I was only interested in watching the team compete and ultimately beat the Yankees. I went to dozens of games during my youth and never encountered a feeling I didn’t belong there. I wasn’t a black life that mattered. I was (and still am) a loyal Red Sox fan.

So, why the need to “remove” the sign from the side of the stadium? Could it be because Black Lives Matter has been proven to be the political sham many understood from inception?

In July 2020, with the nation mourning the death of George Floyd, Red Sox decision makers thought they were joining an important movement.

Hmm… they “thought”. Who did they ask, Monica Cannon-Grant?

Team president Sam Kennedy announced a call to action as he asked members of the Sox front office and fans alike to work toward diversity inclusion and racial justice in their communities. To show their support, the Red Sox revealed the billboard, later to be joined by a large banner in the Red Sox bleachers and a permanent BLM sign in the Sox outfield.

Never could they have expected some of their fans to turn on them so quickly.

Sorry, unless you have winning championships down to a science, maybe that’s where members of the Sox front office should have been spending their paid time addressing. Actual baseball “fans”, as opposed to social justice activists, seemed to understand that.

Despite an overflowing show of support from a majority of their fanbase, the organization was also flooded with negative phone calls from what it views as a “vocal minority” of folks who didn’t like the sign.

“No one could predict the future; we certainly couldn’t,” Salwasser said. “So no, we had no idea what really to expect.

Arrogant liberals assume everyone thinks like them and are usually horrified, thus caught off guard, by the slightest pushback.

“I’ll be honest, it was a really challenging time for our organization when that board went up. Because as often happens, there is a loud vocal minority that expressed discontent with the board. And that was regrettable with us because we felt so proud when that billboard went up. We were taken aback by the negative feedback. But again, as oftentimes happens, there’s a very loud, vocal minority that likes to make their feelings known.

Project much?

Unfortunately a lot of our staff had to bear the brunt of some of those really tough conversations from those fans.”

Given current ticket prices, the staff was probably overpaid for the “brunt” they had to bear.

As usual, it was all about them, their “social” impact, or lack thereof. Between the pandemic and the “Summer of Love”, the Red Sox finished the abbreviated 2020 season with an abysmal 24 wins and 36 losses. But having visible support for Black Lives Matter was more important. Ask any fan who may have missed a few innings, trying to get home after being stuck in a spontaneous traffic disruption by BLM activists who demanded commuters check their privilege.

“I also think it’s important to note that last season we also had permanent signage of Black Lives Matter up in the park. So the statement isn’t going away. That’s not changing at all. That will stay permanently affixed to the interior of Fenway Park for all our fans of Red Sox nation to see. We’re proud of that.”

And while the billboard is coming down, the organization said its commitment to racial justice won’t change.

So why are the Red Sox visually distancing themselves from Black Lives Matter?

BLM co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors’ million-dollar real estate buying binge
Concerns Raised Over $60 Million in Black Lives Matter Funds
‘The BLM Foundation’ Raised Millions. Not Affiliated With The BLM Movement
CA threatens to hold BLM’s leaders personally liable over missing financial records
Where Did All the Money Shaun King Raised for Black Lives Go?

Aside from the greed of their grifter founder and supporters, they’ve been exposed as yet another liberal entity using willing black people (whom the left would call “house negroes”) for political and personal gain.

The Washington Examiner revealed last week that prominent Democratic lawyer Marc Elias and former White House political director Minyon Moore, both longtime Clinton allies, have taken on key leadership roles with BLM. Filings from the organization show Elias represents the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation through Elias Law Group, and Moore, who is also advising President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court confirmation team, is now a member of BLM’s board of directors.

The reason this matters is twofold.

First, it proves BLM is directly engaging known Democratic political operatives, undermining its claim that it functions as a charity. And second, it shows Democrats are actively trying to direct BLM and help it deal with the financial transparency scandal it finds itself in.
— Washington Examiner, 2/24/22

Actually threefold: Elias and Moore smell, and can attach themselves to, a lot of political money.

Sorry, Bekah. The socially-compliant in Back Bay and along the affluent Route 9 corridor may accept this on face value but you can only count on WGBH consumers who’ve never watched a game on television to buy the bullshit.

As for the Red Sox organization, it would be sad to think that winning is not one of the priorities of the franchise and instead infecting the product with hires from nonprofits with social agendas that have little to do with wins and losses.

Boston fans are often called the most intelligent in all of sports. Unfortunately, the socially arrogant in the Red Sox front office don’t appear to agree.

However, there are parts in the north where stereotypes have a basis in truth. In Massachusetts, we affectionately refer to these people as “townies” or “Massholes”. Today, the Massholes made national news.

The bizarre case of a Red Sox division title banner that went missing Monday came to an abrupt end Wednesday afternoon when a Malden man who says he found it in Somerville brought it to Fenway Park.

The Sox confirmed shortly before 4 p.m. that the banner, which they plan to unveil outside Fenway if they clinch the American League East crown as expected, was in their possession. A team spokeswoman said the people who returned it received nothing in exchange for the item.

Louie Iacuzzi, a 44-year-old Malden resident described himself as a good Samaritan. “[W]e’re trying to do the right thing, but I’m not just going to hand it to them, know what I mean?” Iacuzzi said.

“If I didn’t pick it up, a hundred people would have ran over it,” he said. “I don’t want a million dollars. I don’t need a million dollars. All I wanted was to maybe bring my family, my friends to a [expletive] baseball game, maybe meet a player…. The flag is back home with the Boston Red Sox.”
— Boston Globe, 9/19/18

Had these two men simply made a phonecall to the Red Sox, let them know that they found the banner and where they could pick it up, who knows? The person doing the pickup may have brought some souvenirs, maybe some tickets to the upcoming New York Yankees season finale at Fenway.

His friend, James Amaral, noted, “We’re hoping they do the right thing. You know, we did the right thing. We could have kept it, we could have put it on eBay. You know, we got connections where we could have reached out to other sources.”

Asked whether they wanted cash from the Red Sox, Iacuzzi at first said, “Yes, financial [compensation], maybe some tickets, we want something. We don’t know what we want. We want to return it, 100 percent, but we would like to get something.”

But it sounded almost like blackmail, they acted like the Massholes they are, appropriately got nothing in return and are lucky the visit they got wasn’t from the State Police to take them for a ride.

UPDATE

We’ll settle for local law enforcement….

What exactly happened to the banner printed for the Red Sox to hang at Fenway Park when they clinch the American League East title? Somerville Police are trying to find out. Tony Lafuente, the owner of Flagraphics, which made the banner, told the Globe he did not believe the banner fell off a truck.

“These guys stole my banner,” he told the newspaper.

Somerville Police confirmed to WBZ-TV on Thursday they are investigating whether the banner was stolen or found. “This matter is currently under investigation. As this is an active and ongoing investigation, no further information will be provided at this time,” police said.
— CBS Boston, 9/20/18

UPDATE

Tony LaFuente, the owner of the company that makes the Red Sox banners, told the The Boston Globe Friday morning that he had filed a report with Somerville police in an attempt to figure out “what happened.” However, the department said Friday afternoon that they had ended the investigation at his request.

“The investigation has been closed at the request of the complainant,” Somerville police said in a statement. “The SPD is no longer looking into the matter.”
— Boston.com, 9/21/18

There are people called “Massholes” for a reason.