Best of SI: Why Torii Hunter Made Sure He’d Never Play Red Sox

In 2017, then-Orioles outfielder Adam Jones told reporters that he’d been subjected to racist abuse from fans in the stands at Boston’s Fenway Park. “A disrespectful fan threw a bag of peanuts at me,” Jones said. “I was called the N-word a handful of times tonight. Thanks. Pretty awesome.”

Jones’s allegation prompted other Black major leaguers to come forward with their experiences of racism in Boston. Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said that Fenway was the only ballpark where he’d been called the N-word and that the small fraternity of Black big leaguers know, “When you go to Boston, expect it.”

Torii Hunter, who had retired by then, said he wasn’t surprised to hear what Jones had gone through. The abuse Hunter endured there led him to decide he never wanted to play for the Red Sox. David Ortiz told ESPN shortly after the Jones incident that he had approached Hunter, who was his teammate with the Twins, about joining him in Boston and Hunter refused due to the treatment from fans. 

In an interview on ESPN’s Golic and Wingo on Thursday, Hunter revealed that he went as far as to ensure that every contract he ever signed included Boston in his no-trade clause. “I’ve been called the N-word in Boston 100 times, and I said something about it,” Hunter said. “(I didn‘t speak up because people would say) ‘Oh, he’s just a militant, he’s lying, this didn’t happen.' No, it happened. All the time. From little kids. And grown-ups right next to them didn’t say anything. ... So I had a no-trade clause in everything I had not to go to Boston.

Click Here to read the rest of "Torii Hunter Had No-Trade Clause to Boston Due to Red Sox Fans’ Racist Abuse," for FREE at Sports Illustrated!