Red Sox Fans Should Give Adam Jones a Standing Ovation Tonight UPDATE

I only caught glimpses of last night's game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox. But after Adam Jones made a sensational catch late in the game off the bat of Jackie Bradley, Jr, I saw him being very vocal and I thought it might have been with some fans.

As it turns out it was. A fan had thrown some peanuts at Jones and hurled the N-word at him. This has prompted public apologies from the Red Sox organization, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.

While this incident saddens me it does not surprise me. I remember seeing Albert Belle get heckled with racial epithets in 1999 in Cleveland as a member of the Orioles. That fall, Tribe fans shouted racial epithets to Pedro Martinez as he warmed up in the bullpen during Game 5 of the ALDS. Alcohol and hatred are always a bad mix.

I've been critical of Jones in the past. Last year, he characterized baseball as "a white man's game". An odd comment given the players who hail from Latin America, Asia and now South Africa.

But Jones has made an imprint on the game especially as he led the U.S. to its first World Baseball Classic title in March. That tournament will forever be remembered for when Jones robbed his Orioles teammate Manny Machado of a home run.

Jones' contributions to the game outweigh his shortcomings. As such I think as a gesture of goodwill, Red Sox fans at tonight's game at Fenway Park should give Adam Jones a standing ovation when he enters the batting box for his first plate appearance. It won't erase the transgression and it doesn't erase racism. It will always exist. But it would demonstrate that most decent human beings abhor such views. If Adam Jones is to be booed by the Fenway faithful it should be because he is thorn in the side of the Red Sox, not because he is unwelcome to play baseball.


UPDATE: Evidently I am not the only one calling upon Red Sox Nation to give Jones a standing O. Long time New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica weighs in here.

UPDATE II: Red Sox Nation did not disappoint.