Race and the Red Sox

BigChara33

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May 2, 2017
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For what it's worth, Bob Nightengale did tweet out that Red Sox officials confirmed the incident.

I apologize in advance that this is my first post on SOSH. I've been following these forums for a long time.

I was there in Center Field tonight, freezing my butt off. No one called Adam Jones the 'N' Word from straight away center field. Yes I saw peanuts get thrown at him. I didn't see that as anything racial, I saw it as someone throwing the first available thing at someone who was being a pompous ass. Adam Jones was jawing with the crowd all night and calling people 'bitc***' and bragging about his money. To falsely accuse someone of racism is just as bad as someone using a racial slur if not worse. This isn't the first time I've heard of Adam Jones pulling the race card. 2/3 of the Red Sox outfield is black!
They 'N' word ending in an A instead of an er was heard about 100x tonight... but as usual it was not in a derogatory form... rather... uneducated people who get angry and use it every other word.

I saw the guy get kicked out by the dugout. I did not hear him use the N word (of course, I was about 500 feet away.). I assume he was the peanut thrower... or maybe the peanu thrower was just another fenway worker throwing peanuts... PEANUTS HERE!

“We already have two strikes against us already,’’ Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones told USA TODAY Sports, “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."

“The outside world doesn’t really respect athletes,’’ Jones says, “unless they talk about what they want them to talk about. Society doesn’t think we deserve the right to have an opinion on social issues.

“We make a lot of money, so we just have to talk baseball, talk football. But most athletes, especially if you’re tenured in your sport, you’re educated on life, and on more things than most people on the outside. But because Donald Trump is a billionaire, he can say whatever he wants, because he’s older and has more money?

“And when Kaepernick does something, or says something, he’s ridiculed. Why is that? ’’

I was there and I heard what I heard. Adam Jones pulling the race card is disgusting. As a fan of Baseball, I believe this story needs to be corrected and Adam Jones should be suspended for a lot longer than PED users.

This is the 2nd time USA Today has made Adam Jones out to be a victim over what?
 
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Flynn4ever

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I apologize in advance that this is my first post on SOSH. I've been following these forums for a long time.

I was there in Center Field tonight, freezing my butt off. No one called Adam Jones the 'N' Word from straight away center field. Yes I saw peanuts get thrown at him. I didn't see that as anything racial, I saw it as someone throwing the first available thing at someone who was being a pompous ass. Adam Jones was jawing with the crowd all night and calling people 'bitc***' and bragging about his money. To falsely accuse someone of racism is just as bad as someone using a racial slur if not worse. This isn't the first time I've heard of Adam Jones pulling the race card. 2/3 of the Red Sox outfield is black!
They 'N' word ending in an A instead of an er was heard about 100x tonight... but as usual it was not in a derogatory form... rather... uneducated people who get angry and use it every other word.

I saw the guy get kicked out by the dugout. I did not hear him use the N word (of course, I was about 500 feet away.). I assume he was the peanut thrower... or maybe the peanu thrower was just another fenway worker throwing peanuts... PEANUTS HERE!

“We already have two strikes against us already,’’ Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones told USA TODAY Sports, “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."

“The outside world doesn’t really respect athletes,’’ Jones says, “unless they talk about what they want them to talk about. Society doesn’t think we deserve the right to have an opinion on social issues.

“We make a lot of money, so we just have to talk baseball, talk football. But most athletes, especially if you’re tenured in your sport, you’re educated on life, and on more things than most people on the outside. But because Donald Trump is a billionaire, he can say whatever he wants, because he’s older and has more money?

“And when Kaepernick does something, or says something, he’s ridiculed. Why is that? ’’

I was there and I heard what I heard. Adam Jones pulling the race card is disgusting. As a fan of Baseball, I believe this story needs to be corrected and Adam Jones should be suspended for a lot longer than PED users.

This is the 2nd time USA Today has made Adam Jones out to be a victim over what?
Bad time for a first post, bad topic, bad take. Let me walk you through where you are wrong:
First: If Adam Jones was acting poorly to the crowd and using obscenities that's a problem, but doesn't excuse any racist behavior from Sox fan's actions (if true.) Second: The makeup of the Sox outfield doesn't mean there isn't belligerence or stupidity directed towards opposing players that is unacceptable (or even our own that we don't hear much about.) Third: There is not less derogatory term of that word. Fourth: Substitute banana for peanuts which originate from roughly the same part of the world and you have an idea what message that fan MAY have been sending. Finally, yes Adam Jones is outspoken, so what? So am I (clearly.) Again, not a great first post.
To be clear I won't hide behind anonymity, if you wish to truly discuss I will be happy to have private messages with you. I don't think you are ignorant, just a bit wrong on nuance.
 
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Rusty13

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I apologize in advance that this is my first post on SOSH. I've been following these forums for a long time.

I was there in Center Field tonight, freezing my butt off. No one called Adam Jones the 'N' Word from straight away center field. Yes I saw peanuts get thrown at him. I didn't see that as anything racial, I saw it as someone throwing the first available thing at someone who was being a pompous ass. Adam Jones was jawing with the crowd all night and calling people 'bitc***' and bragging about his money. To falsely accuse someone of racism is just as bad as someone using a racial slur if not worse. This isn't the first time I've heard of Adam Jones pulling the race card. 2/3 of the Red Sox outfield is black!
They 'N' word ending in an A instead of an er was heard about 100x tonight... but as usual it was not in a derogatory form... rather... uneducated people who get angry and use it every other word.

I saw the guy get kicked out by the dugout. I did not hear him use the N word (of course, I was about 500 feet away.). I assume he was the peanut thrower... or maybe the peanu thrower was just another fenway worker throwing peanuts... PEANUTS HERE!

“We already have two strikes against us already,’’ Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones told USA TODAY Sports, “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."

“The outside world doesn’t really respect athletes,’’ Jones says, “unless they talk about what they want them to talk about. Society doesn’t think we deserve the right to have an opinion on social issues.

“We make a lot of money, so we just have to talk baseball, talk football. But most athletes, especially if you’re tenured in your sport, you’re educated on life, and on more things than most people on the outside. But because Donald Trump is a billionaire, he can say whatever he wants, because he’s older and has more money?

“And when Kaepernick does something, or says something, he’s ridiculed. Why is that? ’’

I was there and I heard what I heard. Adam Jones pulling the race card is disgusting. As a fan of Baseball, I believe this story needs to be corrected and Adam Jones should be suspended for a lot longer than PED users.

This is the 2nd time USA Today has made Adam Jones out to be a victim over what?
I was kind of sort of with you until you spun that you heard the N word "100x" times tonight albeit with the "A" at the end or whatever. You just corroborated everything Adam Jones said happened and then some.
 
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Thetoddwalker

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May 11, 2011
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I was there in Center Field tonight, freezing my butt off. No one called Adam Jones the 'N' Word from straight away center field.

They 'N' word ending in an A instead of an er was heard about 100x tonight... but as usual it was not in a derogatory form... rather... uneducated people who get angry and use it every other word.

maybe the peanu thrower was just another fenway worker throwing peanuts... PEANUTS HERE!

I was there and I heard what I heard. Adam Jones pulling the race card is disgusting. As a fan of Baseball, I believe this story needs to be corrected and Adam Jones should be suspended for a lot longer than PED users.

This is the 2nd time USA Today has made Adam Jones out to be a victim over what?
I'm speechless. Must be a troll.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Boston is going to gain the reputation as one of the most racist cities in the world. Bomani and others are correct in the eyes of the people outside of the state, right or wrong. How the hell can you get away with yelling racial slurs? Awful. Just awful.
Is going to? It already is considered that.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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"Going to gain"? I'm sorry but that horse is so far out of the barn it's in another time zone.
A lot of it is from uneducated people that have either never been to the city or that were last here back in the early 90s. Lots of progress has been made for the most part. Incidents like this do not help at all.
 

Strike4

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A lot of it is from uneducated people that have either never been to the city or that were last here back in the early 90s. Lots of progress has been made for the most part. Incidents like this do not help at all.
This is true. But it's also true that in all cities (big and small) the old, revanchist element holds on for a long, long time, despite diminishing every day. It only resurfaces if you are in their strongholds OR if there is a crime/incident (like this one) that gets into the press and shines a light in this dark corner.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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This is true. But it's also true that in all cities (big and small) the old, revanchist element holds on for a long, long time, despite diminishing every day. It only resurfaces if you are in their strongholds OR if there is a crime/incident (like this one) that gets into the press and shines a light in this dark corner.
Agreed. My contention is whenever a racial episode happens now the mainstream media almost always brings up Boston. They essentially act like every other city in the world is fine but it's just Boston that is a racist place. Racism exists around the world. Not just in a demographic that has under 1 million people.
 

thebtskink

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Jul 15, 2005
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Disgusting.

I'd like to see fans video this kind of stuff on their phones to call it out. Public shaming of the perpetrators might be the best way to stop it.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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I'd support a lifetime ban from the park for the assholes in question, and if they had a British standard in place and got 3 months in jail for racist abuse I'd be happy with that as well.

It's embarrassing and terrible.
 

Otis Foster

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I have no first hand information on the incident, just what I'm hearing here or elsewhere. The story as reported in the Globe is very ugly, bringing back memories of Winter Haven and the Yawkeys.

Boston is already tagged as a racist city. On the best of days, there is incremental evidence the problem is receding, but something like last night - if accurately reported - outweighs the gains and retags the city (and the RS by association) as no place for anyone of color, including notably athletes. Sure, those of us here believe there has been progress, but the reality of it and the perception of Boston elsewhere in the US don't match up well, and the latter is more important when we're talking about how athletes of color regard playing 81 games a year here (and exposing their families to the environment). David Price's comments in particular are unsettling.

As for the initial post, I think the forum has been too kind. There are a couple of catch-phrases there that evidence the BigChara33's mind-set. It's an outright apologia for whatever may have happened. This is a bad way to get started here - s/he should stick to sports radio.

I have no problem with athletes taking controversial positions on social and political issues. I reserve the right to dispute their positions as vigorously as I would if someone in the general public had said the same thing, but I'm not going to let that affect the way I view his performance. Adam Jones may be an a-h. just like some of his white counterparts (think Schilling), but he's a terrific ballplayer, and on the human level, he has the same rights of personal dignity as the rest of us.

As for the RS, they should have reacted immediately. Throwing something at a ballplayer is a technical assault. Perhaps the RS should have initiated a criminal complaint, if that's possible. At the very least, any season ticket holder should see his tix revoked and all of them deserve to be barred from Fenway long term. (I know, how do you police it, but as we've learned int the theater of politics outside sports, the appearance of immediate response is critical, not so much the long term futility of the action.)
 

Koufax

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What a depressing turn of events. I thought that this sort of thing ended long ago.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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I didn't know Gerry Callahan had an account here.

"They 'N' word ending in an A instead of an er was heard about 100x tonight... but as usual it was not in a derogatory form... rather... uneducated people who get angry and use it every other word."

Gee, I wonder what gave it away?

BC33's take is bad and this is a horrible reason why people that suck still go to games. Jesus H Christ on a pogo stick. I'm appalled.
 

cornwalls@6

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Boston has largely the same complicated, at times shameful, history with race as any other major American city. Particularly older, east coast/Midwest cities. A cursory amount research would reveal plenty of terrible racist episodes, both in and out of sports, in places like Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. I think one of the reasons it gets singled out to a degree, is that these incidents are so at odds with Bostons other reputation, that of being one of the most progressive cities in the country. That dichotomy, I think, fuels something of a gotcha mentality in some corners of the chattering class. Thrown in the nuance-free/ hot take culture we live in, and a reputation gets forged. None of which is to excuse what happened last night, or in the past. It's despicable, and needs to be strongly, publicly condemned at every turn.
 
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TheoShmeo

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I was at Fenway last night, sitting in the loge above the sox batting circle, and heard nothing racist all night. I don't doubt that the N word was used, it's obviously disgusting and embarrassing that it happened and I agree that more should be done to punish and discourage offenders. My point, however, is that whatever happened with Jones was an exception. It's not like Fenway was a KKK rally and to the contrary, it was very possible to be there and not hear anything racist all night.

As a related point, it remains sad and, I don't know, jolting, how segregated sporting events in Boston are. When you go to games in NY, Atlanta and Baltimore, you see lots of people of color. In Boston, they are the exception. That, to me, says more about Boston than a few random idiots hurling objects and racial slurs. Though, in truth, maybe the two are more tied than I had assumed.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Boston has largely the same complicated, at times shameful, history with race as any other major American city. Particularly older, east coast/Midwest cities. A cursory amount research would reveal plenty of terrible racism, both in and out of sports, in places like Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. I think one of the reasons it gets singled out to a degree, is that these incidents are so at odds with Bostons other reputation, that of being one of the most progressive cities in the country. That dichotomy, I think, fuels something of a gotcha mentality in some corners of the chattering class. Thrown in the nuance-free/ hot take culture we live in, and a reputation gets forged. None of which is to excuse what happened last night, or in the past. It's despicable, and needs to be strongly, publicly condemned at every turn.
This is true as well. BUT the progressive aspect is something very recent. I even remember growing up in the late 80s and early 90s and seeing how much of a charged environment it was. Lots of things have changed. More college kids and working professionals coming in and less shitheads from southie Dorchester and Charlestown that had those racist views from back then. A lot of the progressive nature of the city was driven by Mayor Mumbles who while he wasn't perfect he did some good things that being one of them.

In my opinion it's overall lazy journalism. For every story like this one we have ten hot takes from guys like Tomasi and Pete Abe that run to Twitter and call anyone who doesn't like player x a grand wizard. Tomasi lost his credible reporter card when he ran and pretty much doubled down on the Matt Walsh story years ago. But that's besides the point. Point is that reporting itself is dead and sensationalism is what sells now.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Well TS you were in the loge above the batting circle. From what I understand, the racist taunts were coming from the CF bleachers.


I don't mean to pick on anyone, but can we please please PLEASE stop with the "I didn't hear racism last night" stuff? Jones claimed it and the Sox confirmed it and it's not the first time it's happened to Jones (and others) at Fenway. We know it's a small minority of people who do it, but the almost knee-jerk ractions of "Well I was there and I didn't hear anything" make us look like we're in denial.
 

canderson

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Why the hell was the fan not immediately ejected? It sounds from Jones' account this was a prolonged thing.

This has zero place in society and no one should be subjected to it or sit idly as it happens. Any organization should be steadfast to remove and permantly ban anyone who taunts anyone using racial epithets.

This is sickening but not surprising. Long history (and short history) of this happening at Fenway.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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As a related point, it remains sad and, I don't know, jolting, how segregated sporting events in Boston are. When you go to games in NY, Atlanta and Baltimore, you see lots of people of color. In Boston, they are the exception. That, to me, says more about Boston than a few random idiots hurling objects and racial slurs. Though, in truth, maybe the two are more tied than I had assumed.
This is an important point. I'm often struck by how white Pats games are, which is definitely less the case when I've been to Skins games in DC.

I've found baseball to be pretty white regardless of city, but I often look for people of color in crowd shots at Fenway and it's remarkably few.
 

Strike4

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I was at Fenway last night, sitting in the loge above the sox batting circle, and heard nothing racist all night. I don't doubt that the N word was used, it's obviously disgusting and embarrassing that it happened and I agree that more should be done to punish and discourage offenders. My point, however, is that whatever happened with Jones was an exception. It's not like Fenway was a KKK rally and to the contrary, it was very possible to be there and not hear anything racist all night.

As a related point, it remains sad and, I don't know, jolting, how segregated sporting events in Boston are. When you go to games in NY, Atlanta and Baltimore, you see lots of people of color. In Boston, they are the exception. That, to me, says more about Boston than a few random idiots hurling objects and racial slurs. Though, in truth, maybe the two are more tied than I had assumed.
I went to a Cardinals game a few years ago and it was way more shocking than Boston. Not a single person of color in sight - in a city that is majority minority (mostly African American).
 

TheoShmeo

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Well TS you were in the loge above the batting circle. From what I understand, the racist taunts were coming from the CF bleachers.


I don't mean to pick on anyone, but can we please please PLEASE stop with the "I didn't hear racism last night" stuff? Jones claimed it and the Sox confirmed it and it's not the first time it's happened to Jones (and others) at Fenway. We know it's a small minority of people who do it, but the almost knee-jerk ractions of "Well I was there and I didn't hear anything" make us look like we're in denial.
I disagree with your point.

I am not denying what happened last night. Not at all.

My point is that I think it's relevant to the conversation that racist comments were not pervasive throughout Fenway. Maybe that's obvious to you or others, but one could take away from Jones' statements that Fenway was this ugly den of racism, and that it pervaded the park. And that was not my experience.
 

dcmissle

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This is an important point. I'm often struck by how white Pats games are, which is definitely less the case when I've been to Skins games in DC.

I've found baseball to be pretty white regardless of city, but I often look for people of color in crowd shots at Fenway and it's remarkably few.
Demographics explain a lot of it. Baltimore is 8, DC 24 and Boston 85 on this list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._cities_with_large_African-American_populations

And it's almost certainly more skewed than this when the surrounding areas are taken into account.

For our part -- and I say our because I grew up in Greater Boston -- it's pretty easy. Represent well.

There is a troubled history. Boston is an easy target because of that history and because of envy, sportswise and otherwise.

And the media is about nothing today if it's not about virtue signaling. ESPN especially. Five morons can ruin it for the rest of us. Grow up people.
 

TheoShmeo

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This is an important point. I'm often struck by how white Pats games are, which is definitely less the case when I've been to Skins games in DC.

I've found baseball to be pretty white regardless of city, but I often look for people of color in crowd shots at Fenway and it's remarkably few.
I live in the NY area and go to several MFY games every season. I can't speak for other cities but in NYC, at least, there are plenty of people of color at baseball games.
 

cornwalls@6

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Might ticket prices now be a more significant driver of low attendance at Boston professional sporting events by people of color? It's probably a separate discussion, and a shameful set of circumstances in its own right, but in Boston, as in most cities, a large portion of African Americans and Latinos live at or below the poverty level. Shelling out very limited disposable income, for some of the across the board highest ticket prices in US pro sports, probably isn't an option for many.
 
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CarolinaBeerGuy

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I apologize in advance that this is my first post on SOSH. I've been following these forums for a long time.

I was there in Center Field tonight, freezing my butt off. No one called Adam Jones the 'N' Word from straight away center field. Yes I saw peanuts get thrown at him. I didn't see that as anything racial, I saw it as someone throwing the first available thing at someone who was being a pompous ass. Adam Jones was jawing with the crowd all night and calling people 'bitc***' and bragging about his money. To falsely accuse someone of racism is just as bad as someone using a racial slur if not worse. This isn't the first time I've heard of Adam Jones pulling the race card. 2/3 of the Red Sox outfield is black!
They 'N' word ending in an A instead of an er was heard about 100x tonight... but as usual it was not in a derogatory form... rather... uneducated people who get angry and use it every other word.

I saw the guy get kicked out by the dugout. I did not hear him use the N word (of course, I was about 500 feet away.). I assume he was the peanut thrower... or maybe the peanu thrower was just another fenway worker throwing peanuts... PEANUTS HERE!

“We already have two strikes against us already,’’ Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones told USA TODAY Sports, “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."

“The outside world doesn’t really respect athletes,’’ Jones says, “unless they talk about what they want them to talk about. Society doesn’t think we deserve the right to have an opinion on social issues.

“We make a lot of money, so we just have to talk baseball, talk football. But most athletes, especially if you’re tenured in your sport, you’re educated on life, and on more things than most people on the outside. But because Donald Trump is a billionaire, he can say whatever he wants, because he’s older and has more money?

“And when Kaepernick does something, or says something, he’s ridiculed. Why is that? ’’

I was there and I heard what I heard. Adam Jones pulling the race card is disgusting. As a fan of Baseball, I believe this story needs to be corrected and Adam Jones should be suspended for a lot longer than PED users.

This is the 2nd time USA Today has made Adam Jones out to be a victim over what?
This post is exactly why we needed the Sandbox.
 

ALiveH

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my read of the USA Today article linked in Nightingales' tweet is that red sox officials confirmed the peanut throw, but not the racist taunts.

Fwiw Jones was involved in a similar banana incident in 2013 that he prematurely labeled as racist.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/13/sport/orioles-jones-banana-incident/index.html

I'm reserving judgment until corroborating info comes out (for now i'll say there's about a 1 in 2 chance it went down that way).
 

TheoShmeo

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Might ticket prices now be a more significant driver of low attendance at Boston professional sporting events by people of color? It's probably a separate discussion, and a shameful set of circumstances in its own right, but in Boston, as in most cities, a large portion of African Americans and Latinos live at or below the poverty level. Shelling out very limited money for some of the across the board highest ticket prices in US pro sports probably isn't an option for many.
Definitely possible. Though it doesn't explain fully why people of color are so much better represented at Yankees games. It's been a while since I lived in Atlanta or visited Fenway South at Camden Yards, but I remember being struck there by the sight of many non-whites in the stands. And I don't think the ticket prices are wildly higher in Boston than NY, Baltimore and Atlanta, though that may be incorrect.
 

thestardawg

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I was at the game last night. I have season tickets in the bleachers. There absolutely were people dropping n bombs on Adam Jones last night. It was hard to miss if you were within two sections of the nonsense. There seemed to be 2-3 people where it was coming from.

As to why it might not have been reported? The bleachers have come a long way since I originally bought tickets back in 2004. Back then I would estimate there was a fight every third game. And I mean a real knock down drag outfist fight. That's largely been eliminated. However, there is still quite a bit of intimidating behavior that goes on, and the Sox staff either does not want to get involved or is clueless.

It's completely disgusting.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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A lot of it is from uneducated people that have either never been to the city or that were last here back in the early 90s. Lots of progress has been made for the most part. Incidents like this do not help at all.
Maybe I'm one of those uneducated people but it takes a lot longer for a city to lose a reputation for being racist than to gain one.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Definitely possible. Though it doesn't explain fully why people of color are so much better represented at Yankees games. It's been a while since I lived in Atlanta or visited Fenway South at Camden Yards, but I remember being struck there by the sight of many non-whites in the stands. And I don't think the ticket prices are wildly higher in Boston than NY, Baltimore and Atlanta, though that may be incorrect.
I think the history of Boston does play into current demographics. As mentioned before they've improved a lot in terms of becoming "progressive" but people that experienced Boston up until probably the late 90s might have been inclined to move. I think that more than anything probably plays into a majority number of whites at the games in all 4 sports. Plus Boston itself is not that big of a city especially compared with places such as Atlanta and NYC. The Sox do have as far as I know the highest ticket prices in the MLB per ticket. Yankees might have passed them because of the whole Legends Club suites they have going on.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I disagree with your point.

I am not denying what happened last night. Not at all.

My point is that I think it's relevant to the conversation that racist comments were not pervasive throughout Fenway. Maybe that's obvious to you or others, but one could take away from Jones' statements that Fenway was this ugly den of racism, and that it pervaded the park. And that was not my experience.
Maybe it's just me, but does the fact that there were 30 ejections last night bother you at all? I mean I don't go to a ton of sporting events, but it seems like 30 ejections on one night at a non-football game is really really excessive, particularly if they were limited to the CF bleachers. I find it remarkable that no one has commented on this other than saying that Jones was wrong when he said 50-60.

my read of the USA Today article linked in Nightingales' tweet is that red sox officials confirmed the peanut throw, but not the racist taunts.

* * * *

I'm reserving judgment until corroborating info comes out (for now i'll say there's about a 1 in 2 chance it went down that way).
Here's the official Red Sox statement: "The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night. 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." http://m.redsox.mlb.com/news/article/227801168/red-sox-statement-regarding-adam-jones-incident-at-fenway-park/?partnerId=as_bos_20170502_72022666&adbid=859400527775285248&adbpl=tw&adbpr=40918816

As mentioned above, Red Sox officials confirmed that there were dozens of ejections.

You can start judging now.
 

Stitch01

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Well that changes things. Maybe now Jones' suspension for pulling the race card should only be equal to that of PED users.
 

Van Everyman

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Solid statement and one I believe is sincere.

I'm not surprised something like this would've happened – though to be honest, I don't think this is any more likely to happen in Boston and most other major cities. What was surprising to me was that this guy wasn't immediately reported to the ushers and taken out by security. Major-league baseball has gone to unbelievable lengths to make the game very very family-friendly. Kennedy I'm sure was horrified by this and likely sees it as a major breach of security protocol.
 

dcmissle

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Definitely possible. Though it doesn't explain fully why people of color are so much better represented at Yankees games. It's been a while since I lived in Atlanta or visited Fenway South at Camden Yards, but I remember being struck there by the sight of many non-whites in the stands. And I don't think the ticket prices are wildly higher in Boston than NY, Baltimore and Atlanta, though that may be incorrect.
Incomes are higher for African Americans in DC, Atlanta and Baltimore than in most other places:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2015/01/15/the-cities-where-african-americans-are-doing-the-best-economically/#4c0aa00d164f

Then consider that African Americans compose a higher percentage of the population in those cities and surrounding states than they do in Boston based teams.

It's not a great mystery. The narrative that Boston based teams have alienated minorities will not write (though it's probably in draft form in Bristol).

It's a lazy but ignorant argument. Because among other things, one would have to explain the huge popularity among African Americans of the Washington based professional football team. For those not familiar -- just Google George Preston Marshall.

EDIT. Adding state demographics:

http://blackdemographics.com/population/black-state-population/

Compare NY, DC, MD, VA and GA to the New England states.
 
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Strike4

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Definitely possible. Though it doesn't explain fully why people of color are so much better represented at Yankees games. It's been a while since I lived in Atlanta or visited Fenway South at Camden Yards, but I remember being struck there by the sight of many non-whites in the stands. And I don't think the ticket prices are wildly higher in Boston than NY, Baltimore and Atlanta, though that may be incorrect.
I think it's probably a mix of factors: traditional boundaries/segregation of a city, raw numbers and percentage of people of color, and classification of city (southern, northern, border city, old industrial). With Baltimore, a border town, the sheer number and percentage of African Americans means that there will inevitably be lots of this diversity in the stands. Same with NYC, which is also a northern city, and whose stadium is in a traditionally black and Hispanic neighborhood. Atlanta is a southern city but in many ways it is less segregated than cities outside the south. St. Louis, which I mentioned above, is very segregated so despite having nearly a 50% African American population, you rarely see a black person in the stands at Busch. And you rarely see a black person in any space you move in as a white person there. Boston has the liberalism of a northern city but still has neighborhood segregation and a comparatively low African American population. Anecdotally, I would say that the Fenway crowd is more affluent than, say, a Yankee Stadium crowd, and so what diversity you do see at Fenway is probably of the wealthy suburban kind.
 
I was at the game last night. I have season tickets in the bleachers. There absolutely were people dropping n bombs on Adam Jones last night. It was hard to miss if you were within two sections of the nonsense. There seemed to be 2-3 people where it was coming from.

As to why it might not have been reported? The bleachers have come a long way since I originally bought tickets back in 2004. Back then I would estimate there was a fight every third game. And I mean a real knock down drag outfist fight. That's largely been eliminated. However, there is still quite a bit of intimidating behavior that goes on, and the Sox staff either does not want to get involved or is clueless.

It's completely disgusting.
This doesn't surprise me - with a crowd of over 30,000 people you're going to get a few jackasses every once in a while. What does surprise me is that the surrounding fans tolerated it and allowed it to go on. I find that much more depressing.
 

Otis Foster

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my read of the USA Today article linked in Nightingales' tweet is that red sox officials confirmed the peanut throw, but not the racist taunts.

Fwiw Jones was involved in a similar banana incident in 2013 that he prematurely labeled as racist.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/13/sport/orioles-jones-banana-incident/index.html

I'm reserving judgment until corroborating info comes out (for now i'll say there's about a 1 in 2 chance it went down that way).
How does the article prove anything about a 'premature' accusation? Of course, the idiot who threw it would claim it wasn't racist. He'd have to be a complete fool to admit it. "Oh yeah. of course I didn't intent that to be a racial insult, I just happened to have a banana lying around."

How come you're so predisposed to accept the mea culpa, and transpose from that to last night's incident?

Edit: What Wade Boggs said
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Maybe I'm one of those uneducated people but it takes a lot longer for a city to lose a reputation for being racist than to gain one.
True I get that. But at what point is it okay to actually say that other cities are racist besides Boston? Because if you ask anyone who watching the news lately at least from a sports point of view racism only resides in Boston.
 

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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Maybe it's just me, but does the fact that there were 30 ejections last night bother you at all? I mean I don't go to a ton of sporting events, but it seems like 30 ejections on one night at a non-football game is really really excessive, particularly if they were limited to the CF bleachers. I find it remarkable that no one has commented on this other than saying that Jones was wrong when he said 50-60.
I'll leave it to @thestardawg to provide commentary on the number of people being ushered out in that area but 30 people being kicked out of anywhere in the park for various infractions (underage drinking, fake ID, general drunkenness, random fight, etc.) doesn't seem that odd. If there were 30 people being kicked out of one section of the park over the course of the night it would probably be noticeable.
 

Kliq

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Just spitballing so no one bite my head off here. A city like Boston that a lot of the African American population has moved to Boston relatively recently (within a generation or two) could effect the support for the local teams. I grew up and still live in a large suburb of Boston with an outstanding foreign born population, over 25 percent. I knew tons of black kids, and almost every single one of them was a first or second generation immigrant from Haiti, Uganda or another African country. There is also the cases of urban migration from the South that has taken place in the last 75 years. I think it is reasonable to suggest that population may not really support the local teams the way other groups of people would, since rooting for teams in the region is not that important to people who don't have roots in the region. It's more likely those people would root for other teams, mainly the successful and popular ones such as the Yankees, the Steelers and the Lakers. Compare it to say Washington, where the African American population is much larger and theoretically has longer ties to the region, it doesn't surprise me that the Redskins have more support from that community than maybe the New England teams.

Anyway the people who got kicked out of Fenway last night are not Red Sox fans. Their disrespectful, ignorant douchebags who shouldn't be permitted to go to a public gathering larger than five people.
 
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