Red Sox apologize to Jones for fan behavior

One day after fans at Fenway Park tossed a bag of peanuts at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones and shouted racial slurs, the Boston Red Sox apologized for the behavior of their patrons.

“The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night,” the team said in a statement Tuesday morning.

“No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have zero tolerance for such inexcusable behavior, and our entire organization and our fans are sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few. Such conduct should be reported immediately to Red Sox security, and any spectator behaving in this manner forfeits his/her right to remain in the ballpark, and may be subject to further action. Our review of last night’s events is ongoing.”

Jones, in his 12th season and a five-time All-Star, said the behavior is common for fans at Fenway.

Jones said fans on Monday night threw a bag of peanuts at him and berated him using the N-word.

“Very unfortunate,” Jones said. “I heard there was 59 or 60 ejections tonight in the ballpark. It is what it is, right. I just go out and play baseball. It’s unfortunate that people need to resort to those type of epithets to degrade another human being. I’m trying to make a living for myself and for my family.”

Jones won the Roberto Clemente award for the Orioles in 2016 as the player “who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

He said ejections from the stadium are not likely to curb this type of fan behavior, suggesting a major fine of lifetime ban might do the trick.

“It’s called a coward,” Jones said. “What they need to do is that instead of kicking them out of the stadium, they need to fine them 10 grand, 20 grand, 30 grand. Something that really hurts somebody. Make them pay in full. And if they don’t, take it out of their check.

“That’s how you hurt somebody. You suspend them from the stadium, what does that mean? It’s a slap on the wrist. That guy needs to be confronted, and he needs to pay for what he's done.