The Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball suspended outfielder Jarren Duran for two games after he used an anti-gay slur during an at-bat against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park on Aug. 11.
Duran, 27, was being heckled by a fan during his at-bat during the sixth inning when he turned around and told the fan to shut up and called them a “f—ing f—-t” in a scene that was caught on video and audio.
Duran quickly issued an apology before he addressed reporters after the game on Aug. 11, admitting he used “a truly horrific word.”
Duran was suspended for his team’s games on Aug. 13 and 14 against the Texas Rangers and his salary for those games — $8,172 — will be donated to Greater PFLAG Boston, according to the Red Sox, and he will be required to undergo sensitivity training.
“I just wanted to kind of say that I’ve had some fans reach out to me and tell me that they’re disappointed in me and I just wanted to let them know that I’m sorry for my actions and I’m gonna work on being better for them,” Duran said, according to MLB.com.
Duran added that there was “no intent” behind his decision to use the anti-LGBTQ slur — “It was just the heat of the moment and happened to be said,” he explained — but conceded that “it’s on me” for saying it.
Duran, who was named the MVP of the MLB All-Star Game this year, is a rising star. He is hitting .291 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs, 29 stolen bases, 36 doubles, and 13 triples through a career-high 116 games with the Red Sox this year.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora indicated that the team would be willing to give Duran a second chance moving forward.
“The organization has been very proactive and active as far as inclusion,” Cora said, according to MLB.com. “Just one mistake by the kid doesn’t show who we are or who he is,” said Cora. “Obviously it was a bad moment. He’s learned from it. We’re learning from the situation and we’re going to be better not only as individuals, but as an organization.”
However, when speaking to the press on Aug. 12, Duran wore a shirt that read “f— ’em.” The context of that shirt was not clear, but it raised questions given that he had just voiced an anti-gay slur.
Duran is far from the only MLB player to be suspended for turning to homophobia on the field. Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar, for example, received a three-game suspension in 2012 for using an anti-gay slur on his eye, while Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce was suspended five years later for two games after he used a homophobic slur while engaging with a fan.
Duran’s suspension came just days after the death of Billy Bean, a special assistant to the MLB commissioner and senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion who spent years working closely with the league, teams, and players to build acceptance across baseball. Bean worked with many players, including former Met Daniel Murphy, who made headlines in 2015 when Bean visited the team during spring training.
“I disagree with his lifestyle,” Murphy said at the time. “I do disagree with the fact that Billy is a homosexual. That doesn’t mean I can’t still invest in him and get to know him. I don’t think the fact that someone is a homosexual should completely shut the door on investing in them in a relational aspect. Getting to know him. That, I would say, you can still accept them but I do disagree with the lifestyle, 100 percent.”
Despite those comments, Bean and Murphy remained in touch years later.
“The good part of this story is that over time, because of the interest of so many people — both sides — him and his wife contacted me and we started a friendship,” Bean said in 2018, according to the New York Daily News. “And he said that I helped him start to consider things from a different perspective. I thought it was really generous of him to do that.”
