In the wake of events which unfolded at Fenway Park this week, there have been a lot of people — some in the media, most just random folks on social media — who refuse to take Adam Jones at his word that someone shouted a racial epithet at him. They demand “evidence” that this occurred, without appreciating that one man’s account of what he witnessed is, in fact, evidence in every court of law.

So, in the absence of any reason Jones would have to lie — and none have been articulated by anyone — why would his word be discounted? Bill tackled that some the other night, but it mostly boils down to denial that racism is still a thing and denial of society’s complicity in it persisting. It’s about refusing to believe someone when they said something bad happened because (a) that bad thing never happens to them; and (b) they do not want to examine whether they have any responsibility for it or to stop it.

So far I’m unaware of any ballplayers who have come out with such sentiments. Probably because they’ve heard it all before at ballparks or, if they somehow haven’t, they trust their fellow ballplayers and take them at their word.

But then there’s Curt Schilling. He thinks Adam Jones is lying:

“I don’t believe the story, given the world we live in. 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 . . . . . . I spent most of my adult life in baseball parks. I heard the N-word out of my black teammates’ mouths about 100 million times. For somebody to talk loud enough for Adam Jones to hear the N-word in center field, other people would have heard it. 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.”

Sorry Adam Jones. According to Curt Schilling, your story is b.s. — you’re “creating a situation” for political purposes. And he will not believe you unless or until the matter reaches his unspecified and likely unattainable burden of proof. Your experience of what happened just this past Monday is irrelevant compared to Schilling’s time spent in baseball parks.

In other news, I do not believe Schilling’s sock was really bloody back in 2004. I think someone was trying to create a situation. Where’s the proof?

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