Adam Jones
Adam Jones has been selected to back-to-back All-Star Games. Reuters

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones claims he was the victim of racism during his team’s game on Sunday afternoon. According to the baseball player, a banana was thrown at him in the Orioles’ 10-2 road victory over the San Francisco Giants.

"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--," tweeted Jones after the contest.

Jones followed up his initial tweet with two more on the subject. Apparently, some of his followers supported what the fan allegedly did.

“I love how some ppl are defending the actions by someone today. Shows how u really are also. All good wit me. I just #Stay Hungry.”

“Good chance this means I get off social media soon.”

Giants’ senior director of media relations Jim Moorehead told The Baltimore Sun that security footage will be reviewed on Monday. There were no reports of a banana being thrown into the outfield during the game.

Though it is a rare occasion, similar incidents have occurred through the years at sporting events. When Patrick Ewing played for Georgetown in the early 1980’s, he had a banana peel thrown at him during pregame introductions. The same happened to Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers, when he played an exhibition game in Ontario in 2011.

“I’ve never had a banana thrown at me before. That’s a first for me,” Simmonds told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I guess it’s something I obviously have to deal with — being a black player playing a predominantly white sport. I’ve grown a lot playing in this league and throughout my whole life. I’m not going to dwell on that. It’s over with now.”

Such racist incidents have been more prevalent in Europe. On several occasions, fans have directed monkey sounds at black players during soccer matches.

Last year, Mario Balotelli, a black player who has starred for Italy, threatened to use violence on anyone who was racist towards him. In 2009, he was hit with bananas at a bar in Rome before the European Under-21 Championships.