Jarren Duran's Middle Finger Was Justified, But His Act Is Still Wearing Thin

Before you all start virtue-signaling and gaslighting me, let me say right off the bat that what Jarren Duran dealt with a few years ago was a serious thing. I get it. It still is. 

For those who don't know, the Boston outfielder revealed on last year's Netflix documentary chronicling the 2024 Red Sox that he once attempted to take his life amid on-field woes in ‘21 and ’22. It was a poignant moment of the series, and certainly a talker. 

Duran was vulnerable in a very public way, and we should appreciate and respect that. An athlete let us in, which is what we all want, right? So, I get it. He deserves some grace. 

But here's the thing … in the years since, the act has very obviously grown stale with Red Sox fans. I'm just being honest. Duran had a very good 2024 season, but struggled last year. He's off to an awful start this season. 

The on-the-field play hasn't been great, but I don't care about that. The whole team stinks this season. Duran is just one of several issues on a terribly-constructed roster. I'm talking about the other stuff. The antics. The constant antics. 

They don't play in Boston during the good times. They really don't play when the team is the worst team in baseball. 

Last night in Minnesota, Duran flipped off a fan after grounding out in the middle of another embarrassing loss. After the game, he said the fan told him to go kill himself. 

But Duran didn't stop at that:

Red Sox fans frustrated with another Duran incident 

"Somebody just told me to kill myself. I’m used to it at this point. I mean, (expletive) happens. I mean, I’m gonna flip somebody off if they say something to me. But it is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that. But that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering. So it happens.

"Honestly, it’s my fault for talking about my mental health because I kind of brought in the haters. So it’s something I’ve got to get used to."

This wasn't the first time Duran's gone at it with a fan. In fact, it's not even the second time. This was the THIRD time in as many seasons!

Last year, he got into it in Cleveland:

Two years ago, Duran was suspended by the Red Sox for barking back during an actual at-bat:

The first time was funny. The second time was understandable. This third time, though? It's becoming a little exhausting. 

Here's the thing: I think athletes should 100 percent be able to clap back at fans. You want to flip off a fan? Go for it. You're frustrated. They're frustrated. We're all frustrated. It's fair game, in my mind. 

But Jarren Duran plays in Boston, a place notorious for being just brutal on players. It's not for the thin-skinned. At all. Plenty of great players have come through Boston at one point during their careers, and struggled. 

• Carl Crawford was a star in Tampa Bay. He never, ever worked in Boston.
• Adrian Gonzalez never really worked.
• Alex Verdugo was a disaster.
• JD Drew, a 2007 ALCS hero, used to be booed all the time.
• David Price was universally hated in Boston until the 2018 World Series, and that was pretty short-lived.
• Carl Everett is probably the best example. His relationship with the fans was a ticking time-bomb.
• Fans were done with Manny Ramirez at the end of his tenure, and he's one of the greatest players to ever wear a Red Sox uniform.

My point is, Boston is a notoriously tough place to play. No, this latest incident didn't happen at Fenway. We have no idea who the fan was even rooting for. But you get my point. 

Fans love you, until they don't. And when the team is playing unfathomably bad baseball, things like this won't work with this fanbase. 

Even if they're justified:

"It's getting old." That's the sentiment I'm getting from most Red Sox fans today. Folks are just tired of the act. It's not to dismiss what the fan said, which was obviously dumb. But fans are historically dumb. I'm not breaking news here. 

Fans in all sports say dumb things, do dumb things, and think dumb things. 

There are literally fans who pay real US dollars for a baseball ticket, with the sole purpose of going into the park and seeing how quickly they can get kicked out. I promise. I've seen it happen. I've seen people spend $100 for a first base ticket at Fenway, only to heckle players so badly, they got kicked out by the third inning. True story. 

At what point do Red Sox fans stop being angry with idiots in the stands, and start being annoyed with Jarren Duran constantly giving in to them? 

I think we're probably there, judging by the response to his latest episode. 

And I think it's probably a fair point, too. 

[This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255)]