Jaren Duran, who revealed publicly last year that his mental health struggles had once led him to try taking his own life, raised his middle finger to a fan who allegedly told the Boston Red Sox outfielder to kill himself.
After grounding out in the top of the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 6-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins, cameras caught Duran jogging back to the dugout and directing the obscene gesture toward a spectator in the stands at Target Field.
Jarren Duran flips off a fan in Minnesota pic.twitter.com/bLjRZYrjlV
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“Somebody told me to kill myself,” Duran said. “I’m used to it at this point. S— happens. I’m going to flip somebody off if they say something to me. It is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that, but that stuff is still kind of triggering. It happens.”
Video of the incident did not make it immediately clear what, if anything, was said.
In 2024, Duran was suspended for two games without pay for yelling a homophobic slur at a spectator who was critical of his offense. Duran later issued an apology, and his combined salary from the two games, roughly $8,200, was donated to PFLAG (Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), the United States’ largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating and advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people and their loved ones.
The following season, when Netflix released its documentary “The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox,” about the 2024 team, one episode featured Duran detailing his mental health struggles.
“Honestly, it’s my fault for talking about my mental health because I kind of brought in the haters,” Duran said of the comment he heard. “It’s something I’ve got to get used to.”
Manager Alex Cora said he was unaware of what had transpired with Duran but would speak with the outfielder.
“I didn’t really tell anybody, so that’s on me,” Duran said. “I was just trying to hold it in and not really bring it up to the team. We’re trying to win a game. I shouldn’t bring that up to anybody. It’s not really like I want to be, ‘Bro, you should have heard what this guy said to me.’ That’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is win the game. It just happens.”
At the start of the season, Duran said he was taking a renewed mental approach at the plate.
“I feel like this spring has been a really good mental spot for me,” he said in March. “I just don’t care. That mindset has kept me locked in. Like, if I get a hit, sick; if I don’t, oh well. Nobody’s perfect in this game. Stuff is going to happen. And I can’t dwell on one moment more than the other.”
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
— Dan Hayes contributed to this report.
