Many Red Sox fans did the right thing after an egregious wrong | Marcus Hayes
One night after Baltimore's Adam Jones spoke of racist taunts from Fenway Park fans, the crowd apologized with a standing ovation.
Fans do stupid things.
They get drunk and they get angry and they mutate into morons that their neighbors would not recognize. They throw snowballs and beer bottles and batteries and, occasionally, racist taunts. They seldom get a chance to redeem themselves.
Red Sox fans got that chance. They made the most of it.
On Monday, Orioles outfielder Adam Jones was subjected to racial slurs, including the N-word, by a few Sox fans at Fenway Park.
On Tuesday, many more Sox fans gave Jones a standing ovation when he came to the plate for his first at-bat.
Well done.
Just a few days after Philadelphia hosted the NFL draft with great energy and little incident, Boston fans made a black guy feel good.
Go figure.
Boston and its sports teams have a complicated history with race relations, as does the entire region of New England. Many black athletes hate to visit the city; not all, but many. That's just the way it is. Check out the abhorrent reaction on social media to Jones' complaint.
Gratifyingly, though, there was plenty of social media sympathy as well.
The team's owner and president, and the commissioner of Major League Baseball all expressed outrage and surprise at the incident. It was adorable, if not exactly genuine, considering Boston's racism issues and the current political atmosphere. Jones remained matter-of-fact about the matter, though he acknowledged the fans' classy move.
As should we all.