Orioles outfielder Adam Jones had plenty to be pleased about after Baltimore's 10-2 road victory over the Giants, but a possible racially motivated incident forced the All-Star to take to Twitter to voice his displeasure.
"I want to thank whatever slapd--- threw that banana towards my direction in CF in the last inning. Way to show ur class u jacka--," Jones tweeted to his more than 129,000 followers.
Jones, who is black, went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs on Sunday.
Jim Moorehead, the Giants' senior director of media relations, told The (Baltimore) Sun on Sunday night that the Giants received no reports of an incident involving anything being thrown onto the field in the bottom of the ninth inning. Moorehead, however, told the Sun that the Giants will review security footage Monday.
Throwing a banana in the direction of a black player is considered a racist action and has taken place previously in the NHL as well as in European soccer.
Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers had a banana thrown in his direction while on the ice during an exhibition game in his native Ontario in 2011.
In Europe, black soccer players have had to contend with bananas being thrown at them, although such displays largely have been eradicated from the game in western Europe. One high-profile instance came in Russia involving Brazilian star Roberto Carlos.
Two hours after his first tweet on the matter, Jones commented on those who apparently were defending the alleged actions of the fan.
I love how some ppl are defending the actions by someone today. Shows how u really are also. All good wit me. I just #StayHungry
— Adam Jones (@SimplyAJ10) August 12, 2013
Jones added that the experience may keep the man behind more than 20,000 tweets off social media.
Good chance this means I get off social media soon
— Adam Jones (@SimplyAJ10) August 12, 2013
Jones and the Orioles (65-52) will continue their West Coast road trip Monday with the first game of a three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks.