After the actions of past week by fans of the Boston Red Sox have shown how abusive language can not be tolerated at ballparks around Major League Baseball.
Last week, an incident occurred where Baltimore Orioles Centerfielder Adam Jones heard racial taunts from fans. Here was the Boston Red Sox’ response to that.
"“The Red Sox want to publicly apologize to Adam Jones and the entire Orioles organization for what occurred at Fenway Park Monday night. No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism at Fenway Park.”"
The day after the Jones incident, a fan used a racial slur after the National anthem, which was sung by a Kenyan woman. The Red Sox handed out a lifetime ban to the fan.
Spokeswoman Zineb Curran spoke to WEEI about how the team will prevent fans, and others, from entering into the park. Here is what she said.
"“We informed this person verbally and in writing, and we’ve also flagged their credit card from being able to purchase tickets from the organization moving forward. Key security personnel are aware of who the individual is. What we’re not doing is posting this person’s picture and name at every gate. That’s not something we’re doing. We know this isn’t a perfect or infallible system. And we recognize that enforcing it will be a difficult thing to do. But if the person is willing to take a risk and come back to the ballpark, there are actions that can be taken if they’re caught”"
If the fan is caught, the Red Sox can call police and have them arrested for trespassing. In Boston, trespassing carries a fine of up to $100 and even a possible 30-day jail sentence.
Now, here’s the thing with the way in which the Red Sox are enforcing their policy: it is not perfect. And in all honesty, nothing could possibly be perfect.
The fan could easily slip into the park. They would not even need a disguise.
As someone who works in retail, I can barely remember faces that I just helped out five minutes prior. So imagine being someone who checks tickets and initially lets people into the park: they are seeing thousands of people every single night and are focused on quickness and efficiency. Even by having a picture of the fan, the odds are rather slim that out of 35,000 people, security at the gates of the park are going to be able to pick them out.
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If I was a security guard and I knew the face of the fan, I would be a hawk trying to find the person. Imagine the feeling of catching the one person out of 35,000? Getting to put them in handcuffs and drag them past cheering fans and getting hailed a hero? Must be incredible.
Or maybe I’m just imagining the life of a security guard to be a bit more glamorous than it actually is.
But I digress.
Ultimately, the best way to stop this fan from entering the park again, and from more racist actions occurring, is to alert all security guards of what this fan looks like. Give them fliers of what they look like and allow them to have one on them for reference. It does not guarantee anything, but it won’t hurt.
But more importantly, increase the punishment. Coordinate something with the Boston Police to increase the trespassing punishment. The scare factor of possibly getting caught and facing definite jail time would keep away that specific fan and would prevent more repeat offenses.
The hope ultimately is that the Red Sox, and other teams around baseball, will not have to enforce these rules, or anything similar.