Red Sox Apologize to Adam Jones After Orioles Star Is Subjected to Racism

After being subjected to racist taunts at Fenway Park on Monday night, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones received an apology from the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

Arash Madani of Sportsnet tweeted the following statement from Red Sox President Sam Kennedy regarding the matter:

Jones told USA Today's Bob Nightengale on Monday that he was targeted by some of the fans in attendance: "A disrespectful fan threw a bag of peanuts at me. I was called the N-word a handful of times tonight. Thanks. Pretty awesome."

Jones told Nightengale that he heard there were "59 or 60" ejections at Fenway on Monday, and he called for a harsh punishment against the fan who threw a bag of peanuts at him: "It's pathetic. 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. That's how you hurt somebody. You suspend them from the stadium, what does that mean? It's a slap on the wrist. That guy needs to be confronted, and he needs to pay for what he's done."

Per Nightengale, Jones is one of just 62 African-American players to make an Opening Day roster this season.

In an interview with Nightengale last year, Jones discussed the dwindling number of African-American players and why none of them protested during the national anthem in the same way as former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick: "We already have two strikes against us already, so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can't kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don't need us. Baseball is a white man's sport."

With five career All-Star nods to his credit, the 31-year-old Jones has been among the top players in Major League Baseball for the past several seasons.

According to ESPN.com, Jones said Monday's incident was not the first time he had encountered racism at Fenway Park.