Tony La Russa has fired back at Adam Jones.
The Orioles slugger made waves when recently addressing the protests going on in the NFL.
When asked why there aren't similar demonstrations in the MLB, Jones said it was because baseball is a "white man's sport."
49ers quarterback Colon Kaepernick created a movement wen he began kneeling during the National Anthem during the NFL preseason. He revealed it was his way of protesting race relations in the United States and many other NFL stars have joined him.
Jones' comments hit a nerve with La Russa, who is currently the chief baseball officer for the Diamondbacks.
"When he says it's a white, like elitist kind of sport, I mean how much wronger can he be?" La Russa said, according to ESPN. "We have tried so hard, the MLB, to expand the black athletes' opportunity. We want the black athletes to pick not basketball or football, but want them to play baseball -- they should play baseball. And we're working to make that happen in the inner cities. We have a lot of Latin players, we have players from the Pacific Rim."
Jones and the Orioles currently hold the top Wild Card spot in the American League and are a game behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East. The outfielder's comments certainly provided an interesting sideshow to the division race.
"We already have two strikes against us already so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game," Jones said Monday, according to The Score. "In football, you can't kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don't need us.
"Baseball is a white man's sport."
La Russa also addressed what he would do if he was still a manager and one of his players boycotted the anthem like Kaepernick does on NFL game days.
"I would tell (that player to) sit inside the clubhouse," La Russa explained. "You're not going to be out there representing our team and our organization by disrespecting the flag. No, sir, I would not allow it. ... If you want to make your statement you make it in the clubhouse, but not out there, you're not going to show it that way publicly and disrespectfully."
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