There have been new names suggested, from the joke-y to the baseball/Red Sox-related and to people, in particular Blacks ranging from Pumpsie Green, David Ortiz to other Boston athletes.
Given that this is a street next to Fenway Park, I think that there should be a connection with the Red Sox. If you name it after a player then I feel it should be one of the "immortals" from the team's history. A problem here, though, is that another player may come along and be better. New players can make old ones seem less immortal. And what if some buried secret from the nominee's past was disinterred?
Pumpsie Green? There is a certain thought of honoring him as the first Black to play for the Red Sox but I've been following this club for a lot, lot longer than just about everyone on here and when Green's name comes up, I think, "Oh, he's the Red Sox's first Black.
My preference would be to name the street after Lorenzo "Piper" Davis, who had a 15-game career with Boston's farm club in 1950 and who was cut loose for "financial reasons."
Davis had a 17-year career playing professional baseball from age 24 through age 4l, starting with eight seasons with the Birmingham Barons of the Negro American League and going on through 1958 in the high minor leagues. He frequently spent winters playing ball on one of the islands. While primarily an infielder, he played all nine positions and he also acted as a player/manager, manager, and coach. The Barons were owned by Abe Saperstein, who also founded the Harlem Globetrotters, and Davis played for that team and served as road manager for a couple of winters. And one last touch: Piper Davis was the mentor for Willie Mays when he began playing with the Birminham Barons in 1948.
Lorenzo "Piper" Davis was a star player with a great Negro League team and he had a long and good career in minor league baseball. The Red Sox cut their ties to him for reasons many believe had to do with his race. Naming the street after him would be justice, not only to Piper Davis but to others from Negro League baseball.[/quote]