(ThyBlackMan.com) The Boston Red Sox are one of the iconic franchises in Major League Baseball. Their history, uniforms, and ballpark rank them as an important franchise in North American professional sports history as well. While plenty of baseball fans are familiar with some of the Red Sox players like David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, and Rafael Devers responsible for their success over the past 30 years, there are significant names in the front office like former general managers Dan Duquette and Theo Epstein who were major factors as well. One longtime member of the Boston Red Sox front office, Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Elaine Weddington Steward, was recently honored by the franchise by being named to the Red Sox Hall of Fame earlier this year after spending more than 30 years in the Red Sox front office. She has done so in relative anonymity of the national media and as the first African/Black woman ever to hold an executive position in Major League Baseball.
Prior to her work within Major League Baseball, Elaine Weddington Steward earned a B.S. in Athletic Administration at St. John’s University while graduating with honors. She also earned a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. As a native New Yorker, Steward was an intern for the New York Mets while still in college during the 1980s and finished her internship with the Boston Red Sox. Before doing so, there was some hesitancy by Steward to work in Boston given the city’s questionable history of mistreatment and racist behavior towards African/Black people. “I had heard some things growing up in New York that Boston may not be the most welcoming to people of color,” Steward said. “I talked with Mrs. Robinson (Jackie Robinson’s wife), and that meant a lot. She actually called and spoke to some of the people at the Red Sox, and then she said to me: ‘You have to do this.” Steward’s tenure with the Red Sox began in 1988 and she has been with them ever since.
Among the many awards and honors that Elaine Weddington Steward has accomplished includes the National Association of Black Journalists Sports Task Force’s Sam Lacy Pioneer Award and the Jackie Robinson Foundation Sports Management award and scholarship. She is also featured in the Red Sox’ Women in Baseball exhibit in Fenway Park, Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka’s Herstory exhibit in the State House and the National Baseball Hall of Fame Women in Baseball exhibit in Cooperstown, New York. Many baseball fans were aware of the 2020 history made by former Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng but not as many would know of the story of Elaine Weddington Steward and her importance to the Boston Red Sox from a legal and licensing standpoint.
Major League Baseball has been historically one of the most conservative sports leagues of the four major North American sports of the National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball. It is safe to say that during her long career there were and are probably several challenges that Steward has had to face in a white male dominated sports league with competitive egos. More women and women of color are being seen in all the professional sports leagues now and Elaine Weddington Steward going into the Red Sox Hall of Fame speaks to her making a sports breakthrough.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines