Jarren Duran Is Getting Disproportionately Punished For Using an Anti-Gay Slur, and the Fans Have His Back

John Simmons | August 13, 2024
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Sunday was a bad day for Boston Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran for several reasons. 

The first reason was that his team got obliterated by the Houston Astros, 10-2. The second is that Duran went 0-3 at the plate, which is less than ideal. 

But the worst reason is that he allowed his frustration to boil over into saying something that he probably wants to take back.

As Duran was approaching the plate for an at-bat in the sixth inning, a fan started taunting the centerfielder by saying “Tennis racket! Tennis racket! You need a tennis racket!” This taunt was implying that Duran was so bad at hitting a baseball, that he would need an object with a bigger surface area than a bat to get a hit. 

Given all that happened during that afternoon of baseball, it's no shock that Duran found this taunt especially annoying. But then he let his frustration boil over into saying something derogatory back to the fan. 

Obviously, that’s not a great look. But Duran quickly apologized for his words and issued a joint statement with the Red Sox.

"During tonight's game, I used a truly horrific word when responding to a fan," Duran said. "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 grow as a person."

Related: ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit Correctly Claims We Must Protect Women's Sports, Calls Debate a 'Ridiculous Question'

That should’ve been the end of the story. He said something bad, he apologized, and life should have continued. 

But unfortunately, it escalated. 

Outsports - a pro-gay sports website - called for Duran to be suspended for 20 - count ‘em, twenty - regular season games. While they didn’t get their insane wish granted (thankfully), the Red Sox did suspend him for two games and donated his pay to PFLAG (formerly named Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).

To put the cherry on top of this proverbial Sunday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she wants to have a sit down conversation with Duran - and we all know how that conversation would go.

Am I the only one that finds all this incredibly unnecessary?

I’m not condoning the fact that Duran used that word. I also think it’s not a word you should use to describe someone. At the same time, do we really want to go this far to punish a guy for saying something that probably every major league baseball player has said at least once in their career?

His apology should’ve been enough of a penance for what he said. Outsports calling for him to be suspended for almost two-dozen games is absurd and shows how thin skinned the LGBTQ community is. The Red Sox also didn’t need to suspend him for any reason whatsoever, and Wu has no need to get herself involved in this. 

Mature adults would have been a little more gracious. But the world is unfortunately desperately short of those these days. 

Fortunately, plenty of MLB fans are backing Duran on this one and showing him a lot of support.

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