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Curt Schilling believes Adam Jones is lying about racial taunts
Curt Schilling just can’t seem to stick to politics. The former Boston Red Sox pitcher and ESPN analyst is now providing political takes for Breitbart, but found a way to veer back into his comfort zone on Thursday. What compelled him to jump back into the sports fray? The answer won’t surprise you.
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Schilling believes Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones is lying about hearing racial taunts in Fenway Park on Monday. Schilling shared a number of his thoughts on the incident during a Periscope session for Breitbart on Thursday morning.
Unsurprisingly, Schilling had a number of takes on the situation. Here are some of the highlights (via the New York Daily News):
“I don’t believe the story, given the world we live in,” Schilling said on his webcast. “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.”
“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 bulls–t. I think this is somebody creating a situation.”
“But we’re gonna hear from somebody in the section that saw (Jones) called a racist (word). If not, he’s lying. And I say he’s lying. If he isn’t, I will apologize. I will absolutely apologize on the air and I will be sincere about it if it happens.”
So, there’s quite a bit to unpack there. Mostly, Schilling’s argument boils down to him claiming that no one has stepped forward and said they heard fans shout racial slurs at Jones.
Problem is, plenty of people have acknowledged the racial taunts. It wasn’t just Jones, either. The Red Sox felt compelled to put out a statement apologizing to the outfielder. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred also issued a comment, calling the taunts “completely unacceptable.”
The Red Sox ejected 34 fans from Monday’s game, which is much higher than normal. One of those ejections was due to inappropriate language, though it’s unclear whether that person was ejected for yelling at Jones. The next day, the Red Sox banned a fan for using a racial slur shortly after the national anthem. That fan was permanently banned from Fenway Park.
Schilling puts the burden of proof on Jones here, which is pretty insulting. Why does Jones have to prove someone was yelling racial slurs at him? Why can’t we take him at his word?
According to Schilling, Jones would feel compelled to lie because “everybody is starving and hungry to sit in front of a camera and talk and be social justice warriors.” Schilling makes it sounds like Jones made this up so he could get his 15 minutes of fame.
But that argument doesn’t hold up. You can’t say Jones is doing any of this for attention because he already has a platform where cameras follow him 24/7. There’s no motivation for him to make up something like this because he wants attention. He’s already famous and has a huge platform.
On top of that, we know other players have had similar experiences in Boston. New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia confirmed he’s also heard racial taunts in Boston, and said every black major-league player can “expect it” when they go there.
Given Schilling’s history, none of this should come as a huge surprise. His outspoken political views were the reason he lost his position with ESPN and is now spouting takes over at Breitbart. It’s enough to make you scream “stick to sports,” but Schilling has already proved he’ll screw that up as well.
(BLS H/N: New York Daily News)
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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