History of Red Sox Partnership

The roots of this incredible partnership go back to the founding of the Jimmy Fund in 1948, when members of another Boston baseball franchise, the Boston Braves, participated in the national radio broadcast that launched the charity. A young cancer patient named “Jimmy” asked for a television for his hospital room so he could watch the Braves.

The Red Sox adopt the Jimmy Fund as an official team charity in 1953, when owner Lou Perini of the National League’s Boston Braves appeals to Sox owner, Tom Yawkey, to take on the cause after the Braves leave New England. Future Hall of Famer Ted Williams visits the bedsides of young patients at Dana-Farber and fundraises at cookouts, drive-in movie theaters, and throughout New England.

Tom Yawkey erects a Jimmy Fund billboard over the right-field grandstands where it will remain for half a century. In 1967, when the “Impossible Dream” Red Sox capture the American League pennant, team captain Carl Yastrzemski appeals that the club give a full World Series bonus share to the Jimmy Fund.

The Red Sox rebuild the Green Monster left-field wall after the 1975 season; portions of the old wall are sold to benefit the Jimmy Fund and lifesaving research at Dana-Farber. A new generation of players, including Hall of Famers Jim Rice and Carlton Fisk, emerge as spokesmen, and longtime Sox broadcaster Ken Coleman steps up to the plate as the Jimmy Fund executive director.

Carl Yastrzemski plays his final game at Fenway in 1983. He changes his jersey each inning, and all the jerseys are later auctioned off to benefit the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber. Former Sox second baseman Mike Andrews succeeds Ken Coleman as Jimmy Fund executive director for what will become more than 30 years of leadership.

The ‘90s saw the return of the original “Jimmy,” Einar Gustafson, who came forward after decades of anonymity in Maine. He was a 62-year-old grandfather who had survived his childhood cancer in the 1950s. It was also the time when, in 1992, a day for Dana-Farber patients at Fenway was established.

Jimmy Fund Fantasy Day (now called Jimmy Fund Day at Fenway) brings together Dana-Farber patients, fundraising teams, and corporate supporters to live out their dreams of playing on the field at Fenway Park at an annual event.

The new Red Sox ownership group led by John Henry, Tom Werner, and team president Larry Lucchino—a three-time cancer survivor treated at Dana-Farber—keeps the connection to the Jimmy Fund alive.

The WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon debuts in 2002 and becomes an annual Fenway event that has collectively raised more than $74 million for research and treatment. 

When the Red Sox break through in 2004 and win their first World Series title in 86 years, pitcher Tim Wakefield brings the trophy to Dana-Farber so patients and staff can share in the joy.

The tradition of Red Sox players becoming Jimmy Fund Captains gives many Red Sox legends the opportunity to make a sustained difference for patient care and research at Dana-Farber. Among those players who’ve served since 2010 are Nathan Eovaldi, Mitch Moreland, Brock Holt, Pablo Sandoval, Will Middlebrooks, David Ross, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Daniel Bard, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz, and 2024’s captain, Garrett Whitlock. 

In 2016, the late Larry Lucchino, former Red Sox owner and owner of the WooSox, takes the role as chairman of the Jimmy Fund, a role he would hold until his death in 2024.

Former Red Sox player Brock Holt (“The Brock Star”) and NESN broadcaster Tom Caron take the leadership reins as the new Co-Chairs of the Jimmy Fund. In 2028, the Red Sox will mark its 75th year of supporting the Jimmy Fund.