Angels’ Maybin saddened by Fenway Park events Monday

Over his 11 major league seasons, Angels left fielder Cameron Maybin has never experienced what his friend, Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones, did Monday night at Boston’s Fenway Park, when a handful of fans shouted racial epithets and another heaved a bag of peanuts at him.

“But, like most of the black, African American, ballplayers,” Maybin said, “I have heard of things like that happening in Boston.”

Maybin’s cousin, Rashad McCants, played several seasons in the NBA in the 2000s. Maybin said McCants warned him long ago “about Boston not being the friendliest to African Americans.”

Maybin has spent most of his career in the National League, but he has played five games at Fenway Park, including two as recently as 2015. He said he had never encountered racial issues in Boston or in any other major league cities, but he said Monday’s news made him sad.

“It’s unfortunate, man,” Maybin said. “It’s unfortunate that we go to work, to come out here, like Adam said, to take care of our families, provide, and play the game that we love to play, try to put on a show for fans, the people who make it possible for us to come out here and make what we do fun because it excites them.

“It’s unfortunate that you have to endure that while you have to put on a show for people who do appreciate the game.”

Maybin said he has known and respected Jones for many years.

“I feel for him,” Maybin said. “He’s an awesome dude, and I think he’s handled it as well as someone could handle it. I don’t think there’s a right person, but if it was gonna happen to somebody, Adam has handled it as well as I think someone could handle something like this.”

The president of the Red Sox, Sam Kennedy, and the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred, today condemned the actions of the “few” who hurt Jones.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura