Orioles center fielder Adam Jones told USA Today after Baltimore's game against the Boston Red Sox on Monday that he was slammed with racial taunts from the fans in the Fenway Park bleachers.
"A disrespectful fan threw a bag of peanuts at me," Jones said, according to USA Today. "I was called the N-word a handful of times tonight. Thanks. Pretty awesome."
Jones, in his 12th season and a five-time All-Star, said the behavior is common for fans at Fenway. He said he had heard it before, but added this time, "It's different."
"Very unfortunate," Jones said. "I heard there was 59 or 60 ejections tonight in the ballpark. It is what it is, right. I just go out and play baseball. It's unfortunate that people need to resort to those type of epithets to degrade another human being. I'm trying to make a living for myself and for my family."
The next day the Boston Red Sox apologized for the behavior of their patrons.
"The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night," the team said in a statement Tuesday morning. " No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have zero tolerance for such inexcusable behavior, and our entire organization and our fans are sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few. Such conduct should be reported immediately to Red Sox security, and any spectator behaving in this manner forfeits his/her right to remain in the ballpark, and may be subject to further action. Our review of last night's events is ongoing."
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