LA Times
Red Sox suspend Jarren Duran for yelling anti-gay slur at fan. He shows up in NSFW T-shirt
Steve Henson
Mon, August 12, 2024 at 12:21 PM PDT·6 min read
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Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran is holding his bat after striking out
Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, shown here after striking out during a game in April, was punished Monday for responding to a heckler with a homophobic slur. The incident comes a month after Duran won the All-Star Game MVP award. (David Dermer / Associated Press)

Jarren Duran, a rising star with the Boston Red Sox and product of Long Beach State and Cypress High, was suspended for two games without pay for yelling a homophobic slur at a fan during a game Sunday at Fenway Park, the Red Sox announced Monday.

The suspension began Monday night when Boston played host to the Texas Rangers. Duran, who was the All-Star Game most valuable player last month, had started all 116 games this season.

The slur was audible on the NESN broadcast during the sixth inning of Boston's 10-2 loss to the Houston Astros. Duran was about to step into the batter's box when a fan heckled him, saying three times that he needed a tennis racket to hit the ball.

Duran, who was 0 for 2 with the Red Sox trailing 10-0, turned to the heckler and cursed, followed by the homophobic slur.

Duran spoke to reporters Monday and expressed remorse for what he said, although he did so while wearing a T-shirt that read "F— 'em," making onlookers wonder how serious he was about his contrition. The T-shirt has become popular this season in the Red Sox clubhouse, initiated by Duran and also worn by teammates to support his efforts in dealing with depression and other mental health issues.

Read more: Billy Bean, former Dodger and MLB ambassador, dies at 60

He's said it’s his way of saying he doesn’t care what other people think. But, apparently, the criticism directed toward him after his homophobic response to the heckler did bother him.

“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,” he said. “[He] was heckling me the entire game, and I let the moment get the best of me. Just said something I shouldn’t be saying.”

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Duran issued a statement of apology through the team.

“During tonight’s game, I used a truly horrific word when responding to a fan. I feel awful knowing how many people I offended and disappointed. I apologize to the entire Red Sox organization, but more importantly to the entire LGBTQ community. Our young fans are supposed to be able to look up to me as a role model, but tonight I fell far short of that responsibility. I will use this opportunity to educate myself and my teammates and to grow as a person.”

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The Red Sox also issued a statement:

“The Red Sox addressed this incident with Jarren immediately following today’s game. We echo Jarren’s apology to our fans, especially to the LGBTQ community. We strive to be an organization that welcomes all fans to Fenway Park, and we will continue to educate our employees, players, coaches and staff on the importance of inclusivity.”

MLB has required diversity and sensitivity training for players who have used offensive language, and Red Sox president Sam Kennedy acknowledged Monday that the team's players have undergone that training.

Duran's outburst is only the latest in a string of similar incidents involving players making homophobic comments or gestures.

Read more: Column: How a homophobe repented and became an imperfect LGBTQ+ ally

Outfielder Kevin Pillar was suspended for two games without pay by the Toronto Blue Jays for yelling an anti-gay slur at Atlanta Braves pitcher Jason Motte during a game in 2017. Pillar, now with the Angels, said he was "completely and utterly embarrassed" for using the word. Pillar felt Motte had quick-pitched him.

"I regret saying it," Pillar said the next day. "I'm going to use myself as an example of how there are words out there you can't use. It's not a word I use ever. ... It's something that just came out."

Pillar, who attended Cal State Dominguez Hills and West Hills Chaminade High, took his atonement seriously, donating a portion of his salary to an LGBTQ advocacy group and to the Toronto branch of You Can Play, which seeks to make sports open to athletes regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Through Billy Bean, MLB's senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, Pillar met with a group of LGBTQ young people and their parents, hearing first-hand the challenges they faced. Bean, who died Aug. 6 at 60 of Acute Myeloid Leukemia, was the second MLB player to come out as gay and as an executive focused on player education, LGBTQ inclusion and social justice initiatives.

The experience profoundly impacted Pillar.

Read more: Not everything is bigger in Texas: Rangers are lone MLB team without a Pride Night

“Hearing the struggles they go through living in their own skin every day was really sad, it made me even more remorseful for what I did, knowing how much the word is still casually used and how deeply it offends them,” he told Sportsnet.ca.

Other MLB players punished in recent years for directing anti-gay slurs include Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce in 2017 and Blue Jays outfielder George Springer in 2019. Joyce was suspended for two games after using the slur while in a heated discussion with a fan at Angel Stadium. Springer directed a profane homophobic slur at umpire Angel Hernandez after striking out.

Also, Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar was suspended three games without pay in 2012 for displaying a gay slur on his eye-black during a game.

All three players — like Duran — were punished by their teams after consultation with MLB and the players' union. Duran’s salary from the suspension will be donated to PFLAG (Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).

Duran, a seventh-round draft pick of the Red Sox in 2018, is having a historic season. He's batting .291 with 36 doubles, 13 triples, 14 homers and 58 runs batted in while stealing 29 bases. In July's All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, he hit a two-run home run that broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning.

And he's on pace to finish with about 200 hits, 50 doubles, 19 triples, 20 home runs, 83 RBIs and 38 stolen bases, which would be one of the best all-around seasons ever by a Red Sox player, whose leaderboards include Hall of Fame luminaries such as Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Tris Speaker, Wade Boggs and David Ortiz.

Kennedy, however, said the former player he missed most Monday was Bean, telling the Athletic, “He’s someone we would have called on today for sure. I can guarantee you he would have been here tonight. As soon as he could have been here, Billy would have been here.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.