Cutting Jarren Duran some slack ceases to be option. He needs to lose T-shirt and grow up (2024)

BOSTON — There’s an urge here to cut Jarren Duran some slack. Yes, the Boston Red Sox outfielder did a horrible thing Sunday when he chose to blurt out an anti-gay slur in response to whatever some Fenway Park leather lung was saying, and, yes, Duran’s words could be heard over the air on NESN, and, yes, Sox management felt the need to get out in front of this public relations disaster by issuing a two-game suspension.

One of the key talking points of Duran’s breakout 2024 season, remember, has been that here’s a man who’s worked to overcome various mental health issues. He’s talked about it. The team has talked about it. And so when Duran said, “Shut up, you (expletive) (expletive),” the other day while at-bat in the sixth inning of Boston’s 10-2 loss to the Houston Astros, it wasn’t unreasonable to be sympathetic.

But then, a little after 3 p.m. Monday, it quickly became apparent that cutting Duran some slack wasn’t an option. Not when he chose to wear his “(Expletive) ’Em” T-shirt when he appeared before the media throng that was waiting for him.

The T-shirt has been deployed by Duran this season as a sort of uniform under the uniform, and it’s supposed to be a tool for battling mental health demons. It’s his way of saying he doesn’t care what other people think. But at this critical juncture when Duran needed to show some actual contrition and deliver a message that he’s trying, really trying, to make things right, it was hard to get past the “(Expletive) ’Em.” It’s not cool, not edgy.

“I’ve had some fans reach out to me and tell me that they’re disappointed in me, and I just want to let them know that I’m sorry for my actions,” said the man with the “(Expletive) ’Em” T-shirt.

He went on to say, “There was a heckler heckling me the entire game, and I let the moment get the best of me. Just said something I shouldn’t be saying.”

According to Duran, the aftermath of what happened Sunday was that fans on social media were “telling me horrible things about myself. I guess I earned that by saying a word I shouldn’t be saying. I guess it’s understandable. They have their freedom of what they want to say about me.”

Duran was then asked by a reporter, “Is that a word you’ve used before? Is that a word you recognize?”

Duran: “No. Not at all. It was just heat of the moment. No intent behind the word.”

In some respects — and we’re trying again to cut Duran some slack here — it was an unanswerable question. Maybe he says “yes” and it somehow comes out in a way that makes it seem he talks that way all the time. But he said “no,” and did so in a way that’s easy to mock in that everybody recognizes that word and many people have used it.

It’s just that when you take his answer, and then look at the T-shirt, and then consider all the work MLB has done in an attempt to make baseball a welcoming place for members of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s hard to see this as little more than a bad day at the office. When I asked Duran whether he’s been exposed to any spring training discussions in which the organization has people talk to players about what to say, how to treat people, and so on, he just said, “Yes, it is.”

He’s not unaware, then, of the consequences. It’s important to note that it was only last week that Billy Bean, MLB’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, died after a yearlong battle with acute myeloid leukemia. It was Bean, an openly gay former big-league outfielder, who frequently met with teams during spring training and was quick to hop on a plane and get on the phone if there was a trouble spot that needed his attention.

“He was particularly close with the Red Sox organization,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said. “He had visited us several times, had discussions with players … we’ve had training in the minor leagues about diversity, equity and inclusion and Major League Baseball mandatory training.”

The Red Sox could have used Billy Bean on Monday.

“He’s someone we would have called on today for sure,” Kennedy said. “I can guarantee you he would have been here tonight. As soon he could have been here, Billy would have been here.”

The Red Sox need to make some decisions on Duran, and I’m not talking about whether to keep him on the team. What should concern the Red Sox is that a fan making a crack about Duran needing a tennis racket to hit could incite him to shout a hom*ophobic slur.

There’s also this: The Red Sox should stop referring to Jarren Duran as “a kid.” Red Sox manager Alex Cora, while meaning well, used it at least seven times while speaking with the media before Monday night’s series opener against the Texas Rangers.

Duran turns 28 on Sept. 5. He played college baseball at Cal State Long Beach, which is not some small, backwater school. This is his seventh season of professional baseball and his fourth in the big leagues.

Duran had talked often this season of playing all 162 games on the schedule. Thanks to his two-game suspension, that’s no longer possible. But when he returns to the lineup Wednesday, if he returns to the lineup Wednesday, it should only be after the Red Sox have determined he’s settled in, focused and above the fray when it comes to unruly fan behavior.

It would also serve Duran well to grow up a little. He’s not a kid anymore.

(Photo: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)

Steve Buckley is a columnist for The Athletic. He was previously a sports columnist for the Boston Herald and The National Sports Daily. Earlier stops include covering baseball for the Hartford Courant, Tacoma News Tribune and Portland (Maine) Press Herald. Follow Steve on Twitter @BuckinBoston