The Red Sox president, Sam Kennedy, has apologized after Boston fans taunted Orioles center fielder Adam Jones with racial slurs. Kennedy also apologized for a fan throwing peanuts at Jones on Monday night. He says the organization is “sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few.”
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh also issued a statement: “This is unacceptable and not who we are as a city. These words and actions have no place in Fenway, Boston, or anywhere. We are better than this.”
The five-time All-Star said he has been the subject of racist heckling in Boston’s ballpark before, but this was one of the worst cases of fan abuse he has heard in his 12-year career.
The Red Sox said they were reviewing what happened at the game, but any spectator behaving poorly forfeits the right to be in the ballpark and could be subject to further action.
“The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night,” Kennedy said. “No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism at Fenway Park.”
New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia did little to dispel Boston’s reputation for intolerance in comments to Newsday’s Erik Boland on Tuesday afternoon, saying he’s “never been called the n-word” anywhere but in Boston during his 17-year major league career.
He added that black major leaguers have come to expect racial taunts in road games against the Red Sox.
“We know,” Sabathia said. “There’s 62 of us. We all know. When you go to Boston, expect it.”
