Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
MLB taking action
Major League Baseball is reviewing its security protocols in all 30 stadiums after Orioles outfielder Adam Jones (above) complained of fans shouting racial slurs in Boston this week and other black players reacted by saying it’s a common reality when playing in several cities.
BOSTON — Major League Baseball is reviewing its security protocols in all 30 stadiums after Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones complained of fans shouting racial slurs in Boston this week and other black players reacted by saying it’s a common reality when playing in several cities.
It’s not yet clear what changes might be made, but league officials are starting by figuring out how individual clubs handle fan issues and complaints.
“We have reached out to all 30 clubs to assess what their in-ballpark announcement practices are regarding fan behavior,” MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said. “We are also reviewing text message and other fan security notification policies that are operating in the event there is an incident.”
All MLB teams have a mechanism for fans to alert security to issues, but individualized ballparks mean different protocols and practices in each stadium.
In Boston, Jones complained Monday night that he heard a racial slur several times and that someone threw peanuts toward him in the dugout. Boston Red Sox officials apologized and said that only one of 34 fans kicked out of the game was ejected for using foul language toward a player, and it wasn’t clear whether that was toward Jones. Boston police said the peanuts hit a nearby police officer and Fenway security kicked the man who threw them out before he could be identified by authorities.
Commissioner Rob Manfred quickly condemned the incidents and said the treatment would not be tolerated inside any ballpark.
But after Jones spoke out, black players around the league made it clear that what he experienced is an ongoing experience during road trips, varying by ballpark.
“Everybody knows what those cities are. It’s bad. You’ve got security guards there and people there and they just sit there and let it happen,” Braves outfielder Matt Kemp said. “That to me is just crazy.”
Kemp said the vitriol in some parks has become a talking point among the dwindling fraternity of black players.
According to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the number of African-American or African-Canadian players dipped from 62 each of the previous four years to just 58, or 7.7 percent, on MLB’s opening day active rosters.
Dusty Baker, the Washington Nationals manager who played 19 seasons, said Jones’ complaints weren’t surprising because he’s been target- ed with racial slurs in almost every city he played in.
“Minor leagues, big leagues … from L.A. to New York, it’s more apparent in some places than other plac- es,” Baker said.
New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia said he heard racial slurs from fans when he pitched for the Indians in Boston, but has never had a problem with New York, where security guards follow players out to the bullpen and maintain a visible presence.
“I don’t know what you could do. It’s easier for us because we have our security guards,” Sabathia said. “Maybe teams should travel with security guards. That’s made a huge difference since I’ve been here.”