With all due respect to the ghost of Babe Ruth, now that the current Red Sox hierarchy has confronted the decisions of a more recent past, the World Series championship is theirs. It's as simple as that. Purchase your

"You can't grow up in America as a sports fan and not recognize the role that baseball played, both negatively and positively, in the racial history of America," Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said shortly after he and owners John Henry and Tom Werner gained control of the team in 2002. "And the fact that it took until 1959 for Pumpsie Green to integrate the Sox infield speaks volumes."

The new owners have worked hard to change the culture and perception of a franchise that hadn't won the World Series since 1918. Thus, on Jan. 31, 2003, the Red Sox began the tradition of honoring the great Robinson on his birthday. The third such tribute is scheduled for Monday -- when Robinson, who died in 1972, would have turned 86 years old -- at Fenway Park. Why Boston, of all places? Why now? Because the Red Sox were the last Major League team to desegregate, and that fact has been anathema to the current management group. "I think we had to make a statement -- not just in baseball, but in our community -- that hadn't been fully addressed in the past and certainly had to be fully addressed," Henry said. "It's important what your actions are. That will really define the franchise moving forward." The franchise is now defined. Last October, the greatest comeback in MLB history sent the Red Sox on an eight-game winning streak that included a four-game comeback against the rival Yankees and a sweep of the Cardinals in the World Series. Although that Boston team had no standout African-American player, it wouldn't have won without the contributions of this quartet of Latinos: World Series MVP Manny Ramirez, American League Championship Series MVP David Ortiz, the now-departed Pedro Martinez and Orlando Cabrera. On a fall night in St. Louis, the ghost of Ruth disappeared into the ether. But so did the ghost of Robinson and so many other minority players the Red Sox rejected until Green was brought up from the minors on July 21, 1959. Green played 327 games for Boston during the next four seasons and batted .246.

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