Jarren Duran chose to call a fan the worst anti-gay slur during a game.
Now the Boston Red Sox center fielder should be suspended for 20 games.
The folks at Awful Announcing have the video on X. Warning: It’s not pretty.
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Athletes like Duran uttering the ultimate f-bomb gay slur at this point know what they’re doing. They have been in and around locker rooms for many years. They have agents and managers. They have a staff at their team — in this case the Boston Red Sox — who know the ramifications of using this ugly word.
There is no hiding from this anymore.
Given the journeys of Kobe Bryant, Thom Brennaman and others, there simply is no excuse for it at this point.
The conversation about this word has been going on for years. Decades. A professional athlete like Jarren Duran knows what he’s doing when he calls a fan a — and I need to use lots of asterisks and other stuff just to convey what he said — F***ing F***ot.
For him to use this ugly slur a week after the death of Billy Bean makes it that much worse.
Bean — one of only two former Major League Baseball players to come out publicly as gay — died just a week ago. He was an executive in the MLB front office and dedicated his life to ensuring MLB is a welcoming space for gay athletes.
Not only should Duran go through an educational program about this kind of awful language, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred should suspend him for 20 games.
Yes, 20 games.
Enough of this.
A suspension of that length would take the partnership of the Major League Baseball Players Association to execute. The MLBPA should agree to this. If they challenge any suspension handed down to Duran, that would be a recognition that the players union accepts anti-gay language and defends its players for using it.
Duran just spat on the grave of Billy Bean.
Awful.
Of course, he and the Red Sox issued their mandatory statements, taking no responsibility and offering zero consequences.
I have long been an advocate for second chances.
Let me make this clear: I do not think Duran should lose his job in any way. While some will call for him to be cut, that will not happen and it should not. Even clear choices like Duran made to use ugly language like this should not result in his loss of ability to provide for himself and his family.
Duran has every right to say what he wants, including yelling a horrible anti-gay slur at a fan days after the death of Billy Bean.
And MLB has the right and responsibility to exercise its moral judgment in response.
The league should suspend Duran for 20 games.
Related
After coming out, gay pro baseball player Bryan Ruby played better and got more offers from teams
Bryan Ruby was told that he wouldn’t get work in baseball if he came out. Now he’s showing the true path to inclusion.
By Bryan B. Ruby | June 7, 2022
If Bean were here, he’d already be on the phone with the Red Sox and Duran. Yet now he’s gone, as MLB may be in most need of him. I hope the league taps into people like Bryan Ruby, the out gay minor league player who runs Proud To Be In Baseball.
