Red Sox ‘sickened’ by taunts
THE RED SOX have issued an apology to the Orioles and outfielder Adam Jones after he told reporters that he was the target of racial slurs and a bag of peanuts thrown by a fan from the stands during Monday night’s game at Fenway Park.
“The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night,” team president Sam Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday. “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.”
Jones said after Baltimore’s 5-2 victory that “a disrespectful fan threw a bag of peanuts at me” and that he “was called the N-word a handful of times tonight.”
“Thanks. Pretty awesome,” Jones added caustically.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker tweeted his disapproval of the incident on Tuesday.
“Fenway fans behavior at the #RedSox game last night was unacceptable & shameful,” Baker wrote. “This is not what Massachusetts & Boston are about.”
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh voiced a similar sentiment.
“What happened last night at Fenway Park is unacceptable and not who we are as a city,” Walsh tweeted. “These words and actions have no place in Fenway, Boston or anywhere. We are better than this.”
Jones said it wasn’t the first time he had heard racist taunts in Boston, but Monday was “different.”
“Very unfortunate. I heard there was 59 or 60 ejections tonight in the ballpark. It is what it is, right,”Jones said.
The Red Sox confirmed to USA Today that a fan was ejected for throwing a bag of peanuts at Jones. Kennedy told Boston radio station WEEI that there were 34 ejections Monday night, up from the 12 to 15 during a typical game.
Kennedy said 20 ejections were alcohol related, two for marijuana, one for bad language and one for the peanut thrower.
Jones, who is playing in his 12th major-league season, called for teams to crack down on fans who are abusive toward players.
“It’s pathetic. It’s called a coward,” he said of the offensive fans. “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.”