Orioles CF Adam Jones yesterday "didn't hold back" when he said that MLB "hasn't seen players protesting the anthem because baseball 'is a white man's sport' that consists" of just 8% African-American players, according to a front-page piece by Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore SUN. A USA Today article posted yesterday included Jones' controversial quotes, and Jones prior to last night's game said, "There's nothing about me racist. I just stated the simple fact. Baseball is numbers. It's 8 percent black. I didn't make that up. In football, basketball, the numbers are in the 60s and 70s." Encina notes Jones has been "very active in the Baltimore community, spending almost his entire eight-year Orioles career donating time and money to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore and working with MLB's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program." Jones: "At the end of the day, I'm one of the most well-known black players in baseball. There's what, 58, 59 of us, and I'm one of the most known. For me, it was the right time and I know all those guys have spoken up about it at some point in time. My biggest thing about it is that society doesn't mind us helping out the hood and the inner cities, but they have a problem when we speak about the hood and the inner cities. I don't understand that part” (Baltimore SUN, 9/13). Jones added: "Is everybody going to agree with what I say? No. Because why? Because I’m sticking up for people who don’t have the voice. Fortunately I have the voice, I have the reach, and I think it was time for it to be said" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/13). MASN's Roch Kubatko tweeted that "many players have reached out to thank" Jones. The players said that he "stated [his] case eloquently" (TWITTER.com, 9/12).
SPEAKING UP: USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale notes there "hasn't been a single protest in baseball," as "playing in front of more fans than any sport in the country, they could face much more ridicule and ostracization." Jones: "I know a lot of people who don’t even know the words to the national anthem. You know how many times I see people stand up for the national anthem and not pay attention. They stand because they’re told to stand. That’s the problem. Just don’t do something because you’re told to do something. Do it because you understand the meaning behind it and the sacrifice behind it." Jones added: "I’ve seen (Colin) Kaepernick called the N-word just because he’s being sensitive to what has happened to African-Americans in this country. It’s crazy how when people of color speak up, we’re always ridiculed. But when people that are not of color speak up, it’s their right. ... 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?" (USA TODAY, 9/13).
