Red Sox are 'going to look at' lifetime bans for fans who make racial taunts

Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said the team is considering banning fans who make racial taunts

By Mike Axisa

May 3, 2017 at 2:51 pm ET • 1 min read

Following the Orioles' victory over the Red Sox (BAL 5, BOS 2) on Monday, Adam Jones told reporters he heard racist taunts from fans at Fenway Park. He also had a bag of peanuts thrown at him. Yankees lefty CC Sabathia said he has heard similar remarks in the past.

Red Sox fans gave Jones a big standing ovation before his first at-bat Tuesday night, though obviously this incident won't be brushed aside. The Red Sox are going to continue to combat racist heckling, and the club is considering a lifetime ban from Fenway Park for offenders. Here's what team president San Kennedy told Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald:

"We want to make sure that our fans know, and the market knows, that offensive language, racial taunts, slurs are unacceptable," Kennedy said before the Red Sox' game against the Orioles on Tuesday night. "If you do it, you're going to be ejected. If you do it, you're going to be subject to having your tickets revoked for a year, maybe for life. We're going to look at that. We haven't made any firm decisions but it just can't happen."
...
"Our players acknowledged in our meeting that they have heard inappropriate remarks in this ballpark, in other ballparks," Kennedy said. "Our players have acknowledged that and they were so great to take the time to meet with us and help us think through how we work with our operations team to do our best to eject these fans. And we've considered taking further steps. John Henry was very passionate about this.
"It's just not acceptable behavior and we're not going to tolerate it, but we need to know who has done it. We ask our fans to please let us know and help us in this effort. It's incumbent upon us. It's our responsibility. We have to do a better job. But we do have a need for a partnership with the players and our fans."

I'm not sure how the Red Sox or any team could go about a lifetime ban -- will they check everyone's ID at the gate? -- though perhaps the threat of a lifetime ban alone would be enough to deter most fans from making racist remarks.