Jones gets apology for racial taunts

BOSTON — Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said Tuesday that racial taunts that prompted immediate condemnation around baseball speak to larger racial issues in the United States.

“I thought we’d moved past this a long time ago,” said Jones, who said he heard fans call him the N-word on Monday night at Fenway Park and had a bag of peanuts thrown in his direction.

Red Sox President Sam Kennedy apologized to Jones on behalf of the club. When Jones stepped up for his first at-bat Tuesday, he got an extended ovation from the Fenway crowd, with Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale stepping off the mound to allow the applause to continue.

Kennedy said 34 people were ejected for various reasons Monday — ejections typically number 10 to 15, he said — and reiterated the team’s “zero tolerance” policy for such incidents. He said there would be extra security around the outfield Tuesday.

“I’m a grown man with a family to raise, so I’m not just going to let (somebody) sit there and berate me,” Jones said. “Where I come from, if you say things like that, you put on the gloves and you go after it. Obvi- ously in the real world you can’t do that, especially in my field.”

Kennedy and manager John Farrell met separately with Red Sox players Tuesday and said the players reported they had experienced similar incidents at Fenway and around the league.

“It’s nothing new to any of us,” Braves outfielder Matt Kemp said. “There’s some pretty tough cities where people say some pretty ruthless things.”

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, said Fenway was the only park where he had heard the N-word.

“You get called ... all kinds of stuff when you go to Boston,” Sabathia said.