Red Sox scramble to limit damage by racist fans
The Boston Red Sox apologised on Tuesday after fans at Fenway Park hurled racist abuse at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones.
Jones, who is black, said he was subjected to racial epithets and had objects thrown at him during the Orioles-Red Sox game on Monday night.
The incident sent the Red Sox scrambling into damage limitation mode, branding the episode as “sickening” as appalled city and civil rights leaders condemned the abuse.
“The Red Sox want to publicly apologise to Jones and the entire Orioles organisation for what occurred at Fenway Park,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said. “No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism. The Red Sox have zero tolerance for such inexcusable behaviour and our entire organisation and our fans are sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few.”
The Red Sox said that any spectator taking part in abuse would be ejected from the stadium and could be subjected to further action.
Jones — a five-time All-Star who is just one of 62 AfricanAmerican players listed on Major League Baseball opening day rosters — described the incident as “very unfortunate”.
“I heard there was 59 or 60 ejections tonight in the ballpark,” Jones said. “It is what it is, right? I just go out and play baseball. It’s unfortunate that people need to resort to those types of epithets to degrade another human being. I’m trying to make a living for myself and for my family.”
Jones, who in 2016 won an award 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”, said that mere stadium ejections were unlikely to deter fan behaviour.
He told USA Today that fans found guilty should be hit with stringent fines or lifetime bans from the stadium.
“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. That’s how you hurt somebody,” Jones said.