Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones was the recipient of racial epithets Monday night at Boston’s Fenway Park. Jones said it was the worst case of abuse he’s had to deal with in his career to date.
“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.
“It’s different,” he said. “Very unfortunate. 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.
“It’s unfortunate,” he added. “The best thing about myself is that I continue to move on and still play the game hard. Let people be who they are. Let them show their true colors.”
The fan who threw the peanuts at Jones was eventually ejected from the game, and officials are investigating others who were ejected. But Jones wants even more severe punishment; he wants to hit them in their pockets because an ejection is just a slap on the wrist.
“It’s pathetic,” he said. “It’s called a coward. 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. And if they don’t, take it out of their check.
“At the end of the day, when you throw an object onto the field of play, the player has no idea what it is” he continued. “What if something hit me right in the eye and I can’t play baseball anymore? Then what? I just wear it? No.”
It’s 2017, and the fact that Jones is still going through things Jackie Robinson dealt with just proves we haven’t come that far as a country.