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Baseball fans are embarrassing themselves with their response to Boston Red Sox shortstop Jarren Duran, who was suspended for two games after a microphone caught him hurling a homophobic slur at a paying customer.
During a game against the Houston Astro on Sunday, August 11, Jarren Duran called a member of the crowd, who was simply chanting “You need a tennis racket” a “f-ing f—–.” Millennials may remember being lectured in elementary school about this word also meaning a bundle of sticks of a cigarette.
Duran, who was named to his first All-Star game this season, immediately issued an apology and said he felt “awful” for offending the LGBTQ community.
“During tonight’s game, I used a truly horrific word when responding to a fan. I feel awful knowing how many people I offended and disappointed. I apologize to the entire Red Sox organization, but more importantly to the entire LGBTQ community,” Duran said in his apology.
“During tonight’s game, I used a truly horrific word when responding to a fan. I feel awful knowing how many people I offended and disappointed. I apologize to the entire Red Sox organization, but more importantly to the entire LGBTQ community. Our young fans are supposed to be able to look up to me as a role model, but tonight I fell far short of that responsibility. I will use this opportunity to educate myself and my teammates and to grow as a person.”
Following Duran’s suspension, sales of his jersey spiked and occupied the top spot on the MLB Shop on Wednesday, August 14 after selling out in all sizes. As of Thursday, August 15 at 9 a.m., Duran’s jersey is no longer on the MLB Shop’s top seller list, perhaps because it sold out.
While this sort of phenomenon has happened before — Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker saw a spike in jersey sales after his controversial commencement speech earlier this summer — what makes Duran’s case particularly disturbing is that he hasn’t made some sort of political or social stand, but instead simply used an offensive slur that’s been known to be offensive for decades.
Imagine, for a second, if you went to work and got caught on camera calling someone a f-ing f—–. How do you think that’d work out for you? Why don’t you go ahead and try it? You won’t because you know that not only will it get you fired but it’s the wrong thing to do. Baseball fans, for whatever reason, seem to be celebrating Duran for doing that very thing.