Jarren Duran became irate with a fan after the person taunted the Red Sox outfielder over his previously disclosed suicide attempt during Sunday’s game between Boston and Cleveland at Progressive Field.
Durran had to be held back by the umpires and coaches after a fan had “crossed the line” with his comments directed at the Red Sox player after he had flied out in the previous part of the inning.
While the NESN broadcast did not repeat what the person said to Duran, former Red Sox player and current broadcast analyst Will Middlebrooks posted on X that the fan had “told him he should have killed himself when he had the chance.”
Duran appeared to confirm that when he posted a screenshot of Middlebrooks’ X post on his Instagram Story.
The Red Sox outfielder also shared a post that had a picture of the alleged fan who had been heckling him.
The fan had made the comment in the top half of the seventh when Duran popped out to left field.
The ballplayer heard the fan and stayed at the top of the dugout to stare the fan down before walking over to try to confront the fan after the top half of the inning ended. However, the umpires and his coaches stepped in, NESN sideline reporter Jahmail Webster reported on the air.
In a statement released after the incident, the Guardians said they had identified the fan in question and will work with Major League Baseball on the next course of action.
The fan had scurried away from the confrontation and left the stadium, but his comment was so distasteful that other fans in the area had helped security identify the fan in question, Cleveland.com reported.
“We recognize the gravity of the behavior at issue here and take very seriously conduct of this nature. We apologize to the Red Sox organization, the player involved, fans in the area and are addressing the situation,” The Guardians’ statement read.
Duran had openly talked about his battle with mental health and his suicide attempt following on the field struggles in 2021 and 2022 in an episode of the Netflix docuseries “The Clubhouse: A Year With the Red Sox.”
In a statement after the show premiered, Duran said that it “felt important” for him to share his own battle with mental health publicly.
“And if my story can help even one person, then it was worth telling,” he said. “It’s that ability to help, to reach those who feel alone, that motivated me to tell my story.”
Following the game on Sunday, Duran said he appreciated the umpires and security for helping to deal with the situation.
He also said that it had been the first time that someone had said something negative to him since he talked about his suicide attempt publicly on the show.
“When you open yourself up like that, you’re also opening yourself up to the enemies,” Duran said, per MassLive. “But I have a good support staff around me — teammates, coaches and fans that were supporting me. So that was awesome.”
