Red Sox acknowledge Hunter’s Fenway racism experiences as ‘real’

Last week, former MLB outfielder Torii Hunter told ESPN that he did “everything I (could) not to go to Boston” during his lengthy career, a feeling so strong that he had a no-trade clause to the Red Sox inserted into any contract he signed. Hunter’s reasoning was simple.

“I’ve been called the n-word in Boston 100 times, and I’ve said something about it,”he said.“It happened all the time, from little kids, and grown-ups right next to them didn’t say anything.”

Wednesday night, as the national conversation over racism and police brutality in the United States continued amid the protests sparked by George Floyd’s death, the Red Sox acknowledged Hunter’s experiences as a black ballplayer at Fenway Park. Three words accompanied the statement: “This is real.”

“If you doubt him because you’ve never heard it yourself, take it from us, it happens,” the team wrote in a statement posted on social media, adding that there were seven reported incidents of fans using racial slurs at Fenway during the 2019 season alone.

“Those are just the ones we know about,”the team wrote.

Hunter was the latest black baseball player to come forward about racism at Fenway Park. In May 2017, then-Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said he was “called the n-word a handful of times” by Red Sox fans, who also threw a bag of peanuts at him.

Earlier that year, Red Sox pitcher David Price also said he had been taunted racially at Fenway Park.

“Your ignorance is not going to affect what I’m trying to do,” he told the Boston Globe. “But I feel sad it’s still out there.”