Curt Schilling: Jones' story of racist taunts at Fenway 'is bulls---'
Warning: Story contains coarse language
Former Boston Red Sox star Curt Schilling is not sold on Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones' claims that he received racial taunts at Fenway Park earlier this week.
Jones told reporters following Baltimore's game in Boston on Monday that Red Sox fans called him the N-Word and threw peanuts at him while he played his position. On Wednesday night, Schilling - who now works as a conservative pundit - spoke on his Brietbart News webcast and flat-out accused the five-time All-Star center fielder of making up the story for publicity purposes.
"I don't believe the story, given the world we live in," Schilling said during his webcast, according to Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. "I don't believe it, for this reason: Everybody is starving and hungry to sit in front of a camera and talk and be social justice warriors. And if a fan yelled loud enough in center field for Adam Jones to hear the N-word, I guarantee you we would've heard and seen fans around on CNN on MSNBC, they would've found multiple fans to talk about what a racist piece of junk Boston is.
"Since Tuesday night, we've had one person come forward who we found out was lying about the fact that they were in the area and heard it, and other than that we've had nobody."
Schilling, who began his 20-year pitching career with the Orioles in 1988 and pitched his final four seasons in Boston, cited his own experience in major-league clubhouses and watching his former teammates interact both together and with fans as reasons behind his skepticism.
"I spent most of my adult life in baseball parks. I heard the N-word out of my black teammates' mouths about 100 million times," Schilling continued. "For somebody to talk loud enough for Adam Jones to hear the N-word in center field, other people would have heard it.
"If somebody did say it, we're going to see it and hear about it, and I would apologize to Adam Jones for doubting him, but until then, I think this is bullshit. I think this is somebody creating a situation."
The Red Sox organization has acted swiftly since Jones first went public with his story. On Tuesday, one fan was banned for life from Fenway Park after uttering a racial slur during that evening's game, while Jones has received support and apologies from Red Sox ownership, players, and even Boston mayor Marty Walsh.
In his first at-bat at Fenway on Tuesday, Jones received a prolonged standing ovation from supportive Red Sox fans.