Harp(er)ing about the New Boston

Tommy Harper, who has had a prescence with the Red Sox off and on for 30+ years, talks about the Red Sox and race in today's Boston Globe. Historically, race has been a huge problem for the team. They rejected Jackie Robinson after a tryout, Harper himself was treated poorly (and awarded damages in a suit!), and the city itself has struggled with race issues for decades (the iconic image of the white guy beating the black guy with a flag at an anti-busing protest comes to mind). That being said, Harper sees a significant change:

''I know where this team has been," he said. ''I know where it is now, and I know in the future where it is going to be. There's progress being made, and the reason I like it, the Red Sox are not out there saying, 'Look at what we've done, we've done this, we've done that.' No, no, no.

''Things are being done because these are good people. It's inclusive. I don't think a black person could come now to the ballpark and not have a good experience. The total experience. As a black person, yes, I do feel a difference. I can't put a finger on it. But it's not because they hired this guy or that guy. No, it's not that. It's not numbers. It's how well you're treated."

This is a good sign, and a nice rebuttal to Barry Bond's rather angry critique of the Boston organization a couple of years ago.