Baseball is supposed to be a game without barriers. A game in which race or ethnicity doesn’t matter. Ever since Jackie Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field in 1947, race has been overlooked. Baseball is America’s Pastime, where everyone can come together to watch and enjoy the sport. All of this has held relatively true, yet has been brought back to the spotlight after the incident that occurred at Fenway Park on Monday night. What was supposed to be a heated rivalry between two AL East foes turned into much more? During Monday night’s game, Orioles outfielder Adam Jones was abused verbally and physically by the Fenway Faithful; he was pelted with bags of peanuts and even attacked with racial slurs. America, it is 2019, get your act together.
Actions like those that occurred Monday Night are appalling. We can’t just stand here and watch as many of our favorite players of color are mistreated. There’s always that drunk fan at a sporting who might run on the field or yell obnoxiously, yet attacking one man for his skin color has no place at the ballpark, or anywhere. Sports are supposed to be a safe haven for all involved, where politics and ideals are left out (for the most part) as cities come together to support a team. To the fans, nothing matters besides the logo on the players’ jersey. Well, that is how it is supposed to be. It would be silly to think that this is the first time that it has happened, heck, it isn’t even the first time something like this has happened to Adam Jones. Back in 2013, Jones was playing center field for the Orioles in a game against the Giants in San Francisco when he was pelted by a banana that a fan in the crowd threw.
We are better than this. We have progressed too much as a nation to let actions like these represent who we are; actions by drunk, stupid fans don’t represent us. Boston has seen its fair share of racism. Former and current players Torii Hunter, C.C. Sabathia, Gary Matthews Jr., and Barry Bonds have informed the public about the verbal abuse and racial slurs they have received from the Fenway faithful. However, it isn’t fair to only throw the city of Boston under the bus. Issues like these happen all over the country, across every sport. No sport is free of abuses like this. It is time, though, that we take a stand. We must stand up for what is right. For many of us, these athletes are our heroes, so it is time we treat them like that. On Tuesday Night, the fans at Fenway gave Adam Jones a standing ovation in his first at-bat since the incident. Now, it is time for America to stand up and applaud our athletes. These athletes give us countless memories, so it is time we respect and support what they do because their is no room for racism in our world and in sports.