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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).
Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran flipped off a fan during the team’s 6-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night, claiming the fan told him to hurt himself.
Duran, who has been open about his struggles with mental health, was seen flipping the bird as he returned to the dugout after a fifth-inning groundout. The incident was caught on broadcast, and after the match Duran explained that his obscene gesture was in response to a fan crossing the line.
Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran hits a double in the third inning against the San Diego Padres in Boston on April 5, 2026. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
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“Somebody just told me to kill myself,” Duran said. “I’m used to it at this point, you know? I mean, s— happens. I mean, I’ll turn someone away if they say something to me, but it is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that, but things like that still trigger.”
Duran, 29, opened up about an attempt to take his own life during the Netflix docuseries “The Clubhouse: A Year With the Red Sox,” which followed the team through the 2024 season. In one of the interviews, Duran said that his struggles in the 2021 and 2022 seasons led to a dark time in his life and ultimately a failed suicide attempt.
Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox looks on during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 26, 2026. (Jeffrey Dean/MLB Images)
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“To this day, I think God just didn’t let me take my own life because I seriously don’t know why [the gun] didn’t go off. I took that as a sign that ‘I might be here for a reason,’ so that’s when I started looking at myself in the mirror after the gun didn’t go off,” he said in the documentary released last year.
Duran said Tuesday that speaking openly about his struggles has encouraged the “haters” to mock him.
“Honestly, it’s my fault that I’m talking about my mental health because I kind of brought the haters in. So I’ll just have to get used to it,” he said. “I was just trying to hold it in and not really bring it up to the team. I mean, we’re trying to win a game. I shouldn’t even bring it up to anybody… It just happens.”
Manager Alex Cora #13 of the Boston Red Sox reacts with Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox as he is presented with the Heart & Hustle Award before a game against the Houston Astros on August 11, 2024 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
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Boston manager Alex Cora said he did not witness the incident.
