BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox suspended Jarren Duran for two games without pay on Monday after he shouted a homophobic insult to a fan behind the home base who booed him in a Defeat against the Houston Astros one day earlier.
The exchange was captured live on the broadcast by microphone as Duran — who was 0 for 2 with two strikeouts at that point in the game — took the plate in the sixth inning. A fan at Fenway Park can be heard yelling, “Tennis racket! Tennis racket! You need a tennis racket!”
Duran turned his head toward the fan and replied, “Shut up,” followed by a curse word and the insult.
Duran apologized through the team on Sunday night, saying he “used a really horrible word” and felt “terrible.”
Before answering questions on Monday, Duran stood in the middle of the clubhouse and first apologized to his fans who had turned to him and said, “They were disappointed in me.”
“I’m sorry for my behavior and I will work to get better,” said the 27-year-old outfielder.
“We all love Jarren,” said teammate Rob Refsnyder after hitting a walk-off single in Boston’s 5-4 win in 10 innings against Texas on Monday evening. “He will learn from this. We are all human. We all make mistakes, but he will learn from them.”
President and CEO Sam Kennedy said the club contacted Major League Baseball after the game.
“This is a really difficult, disappointing day,” Kennedy told the media outside the clubhouse. “I’m proud of how the organization handled the situation and I’m proud of Jarren for owning up to his terrible mistake.”
Standing next to Kennedy, baseball boss Craig Breslow said the team still has work to do.
“I think it’s clear evidence that while we’ve made progress and we’ve done great work, it’s not nearly enough,” he said. “I think an incident like this is an important reminder that there’s still a lot of progress to be made.”
Duran said the fan “booed him the whole game and I said something I shouldn’t have said.”
Duran said he immediately turned around and apologized to home plate umpire Jordan Baker and Houston catcher Yainer Diaz “for my behavior. They were right there, they heard it. I assume they turned off the microphone because of my inappropriate words.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said: “There is a lot of work to be done and I am here to help him.”
Cora said he spoke to Duran during the day.
“He made a big mistake, he has to live with it, right,” Cora said. “As a manager, I have to do my job. As a human being, I have to do more. … It’s about what I can do as a human being to support him and help him get better.”
Duran has played in every game the team has played so far this season, batting first most of the time, and is one of the club’s best players. He has a .291 batting average, 14 home runs and 58 RBIs. He was the MVP of the All-Star game in Texas, the fifth Red Sox player to win the award.
He said there was no intention behind the word, it was simply “the heat of the moment”.
“I think what’s more important is what happens in the future,” Kennedy said. “We’ve worked really hard over the last two and a half decades to make sure Fenway Park is a place where everyone is welcome.”
Boston said Duran’s salary during the suspension will be donated to PFLAG (Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Duran will earn $760,000 and lose $8,172.
The exchange with the fan came after Duran was honored as the recipient of the team’s Heart and Hustle Award during a pregame ceremony. The award recognizes one player per team who “demonstrates passion for the game and best embodies its values, spirit and traditions.”
“I think the suspension is just a disciplinary measure and we need to hold people accountable,” Kennedy said. “What I would like to see is more education, more understanding, more dialogue about the negative impact of hate speech.”
Since the team suspended him, the Red Sox were allowed to fill his spot on the roster.
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