The Red Sox have a big issue on their hands early in the MLB season. Orioles' outfielder Adam Jones told two reporters after their win against Boston that he was heckled by fans during the game on Monday night. This isn't your usual fan heckling, these fans made it personal. Jones said that fans yelled racist remarks toward Jones, and, according to Jones, the N-word was used. He also had a bag of peanuts thrown at him while he was in the dugout during the game. This news got to President Sam Kennedy, who confirmed the incident and called it "inexcusable." The Red Sox need to do more than just acknowledge this incident, to prevent it from happening again.
Not the first time
This isn't the first time Red Sox fans made racist remarks and threw items at opposing players. Jones said these comments were some of the worst he heard in his 12-year career. He has been the target of racist remarks before Monday's incident. Many players admitted to being targeted at Fenway over the years. Carl Crawford admitted to being treated this way by the Boston fans before he signed with the team in 2011. Red Sox's left-handed pitcher David Price explained how he dealt with similar things in his first season with the team. The common denominator with all these players that had issues with the Red Sox Fans is that they are all black players. Fenway Park hasn't been very welcoming of black players in the past.
Boston as a city has a complicated history in terms of race relations as The Red Sox were actually the last team to integrate, which was 12 years after Jackie Robinson made his debut in the majors.
If Adam Jones didn't speak out against these fans at Fenway, this could've gone on for much longer before the public relations team had to address it.
With African-Americans only accounting for 6.7 percent of the league, this isn't painting the picture that fans of the MLB are welcoming of people of color.
Apology isn't enough
Adam Jones said that he heard about 60 ejections from the incident, but the Red Sox said the number was around the 30s.
Sam Kennedy issued an apology on behalf of the Red Sox, saying, "The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night.
No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism at Fenway Park."
An apology is expected from the Red Sox, but this isn't enough. They need to take this situation and attempt to bring this situation to a bigger stage. They need to address all fans about how they should conduct themselves in the ballpark, and respect the players. Sam Kennedy also added that there is "zero tolerance" for such behavior in Fenway and he is right. Red Sox officials escorted the person who threw the peanuts out of the venue, and they need to consider further disciplinary action for this and future occurrences.
Adam Jones suggested the fans be fined instead of simply taking them out of the stadium.
Jones said, according to ESPN, "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."
Adam Jones will be back in the Fenway outfield on Tuesday night, hopefully not being heckled by fans in such a volatile manner.
