BOSTON — Orioles center fielder Adam Jones got extended applause from Fenway Park fans as he took his first at-bat on Tuesday night, one day after hearing racial slurs from the stands.
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale stepped off the mound briefly to give fans more time to applaud Jones, who also had a bag of peanuts hurled toward him on Monday night.
The fan behavior prompted apologies from Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, who pledged more security at the ballpark on Tuesday.
Fans cheered again after Jones struck out, then quickly shifted to boos for third baseman Manny Machado.
Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said black baseball players know to expect racial taunts when playing in Boston.
“We know. There’s 62 of us and we all know: When you go to Boston, expect it,” Sabathia said Tuesday as the Yankees prepared to play the Toronto Blue Jays.
Sabathia said he was called names including the N-word when he played in Fenway Park while traveling with the Cleveland Indians. He said he hasn’t heard the same slurs while with the Yankees because the team has security guards that accompany players to the bullpen and other areas of the park.
Sabathia said it’s sad and infuriating that players still have to deal with racism in baseball in 2017.
Jones called the incident “unfortunate” and has no place in today’s game.
Jones said he doesn’t think what happened is indicative of the larger fan base or city of Boston, but said it speaks to a larger race issues still prevalent around the United States.
“I thought we’d moved past this a long time ago,” Jones said. “But obviously with what’s going on in the real world, things like this, people are outraged and are speaking up at an alarming rate. It’s unfortunate that I had to be involved with it.”
Jones received a personal apology from Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy on behalf of the organization.
Kennedy said the 34 people were ejected for various reasons Monday night and reiterated the team’s “zero tolerance” policy for such incidents. He also said there would be extra security in place around the outfield on Tuesday.
Kennedy says 10-15 people are usually ejected from Fenway any given night.
Kennedy and manager John Farrell separately met with Red Sox players on Tuesday and said the players said they’d experienced similar incidents in both Fenway and around the league.
Boston police said a fan at Fenway Park threw a bag of peanuts at the Baltimore Orioles’ dugout — not at Jones — and hit a police officer, not Jones.
That’s the latest sequence of events from Boston police Lt. Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy said the unidentified male fan was removed after throwing the peanuts and striking an officer posted near the visitors’ dugout.
He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that security officials had the man thrown out before police could identify him.
