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New York Times
10-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How Alex Cora wound up talking about Roberto Clemente while talking about Jarren Duran
BOSTON — Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora had plenty of time to craft an appropriate message after this week's news that star outfielder Jarren Duran is only three years removed from a suicide attempt. And yet Cora surprised a lot of people — including himself — when he put it out there that Duran deserves to receive baseball's prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. Advertisement 'It popped into my head while I was talking,' Cora told me Wednesday afternoon, sitting in the first-base dugout at Fenway Park. 'I wasn't planning that. I was talking, I mentioned that (Duran) is saving lives with what he said, and it made me think of Roberto Clemente right then.' Duran's disclosure about a suicide attempt is included in the fourth installment of 'The Clubhouse: A year with the Red Sox,' an eight-part Netflix documentary that was released this week. Cora, speaking at a Fenway Park news conference Monday afternoon, said, 'I truly believe that him opening up is going to help a lot of people. It takes a person with courage and being transparent and genuine to do that. I hope that's how we see it, right? He will impact others, and he's going to save lives with what he did on Netflix.' And then Cora brought up the Clemente Award. 'He should win it, to be honest,' Cora said. 'Simply for what he said and what he's doing. He's saving lives, and we're very proud of him.' "We're very proud of him… he's saving lives. He should be nominated for the Roberto Clemente award and should win it." Alex Cora on Jarren Duran ❤️ — NESN (@NESN) April 8, 2025 It's no surprise that Cora is extending his full support to Duran. Though it's tempting to play the back-in-the-day game and wonder how some grumpy manager would have responded then, none of that is relevant to this discussion. This is the third decade of the 21st century, and sensibilities are different. There isn't a manager in the game in 2025 who wouldn't have backed up a player who was brave enough to reveal his mental health struggles. But what's remarkable about Cora's response is that the Boston manager brought up Clemente, the iconic Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder who was killed on December 31, 1972, while attempting to transport supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. The overloaded plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Isla Verde International Airport in Puerto Rico. Advertisement Clemente was as well-known for his charity work and his humanitarian efforts as his baseball prowess, and it's in that spirit that the Roberto Clemente Award was established in 1973 and is presented annually to the player 'who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.' Just as Clemente was born and raised in Puerto Rico, so, too, was Cora. 'I never saw him play … but I saw him play (on videos),' said Cora, who was born nearly three years after Clemente died. 'I see the swing. I see the defense. But I also see the person. And that's what we remember.' Cora said his late father, José Manuel Cora, a broadcaster on Puerto Rico Winter League games, conducted some baseball clinics with Clemente. He later helped set up Little League baseball in Caguas, Puerto Rico, where Alex and his older brother, Joey, also a future big-leaguer, grew up. 'When we talk about Roberto Clemente, when we talk about him to my kids, to my daughter, they know, yeah, he got 3,000 hits,' Cora said. 'They know his No. 21. And they know he played for the Pirates. But they also know he was as giving a person you'd ever meet. This guy was on top of the world, sports-wise, and something happened in Nicaragua, and he jumped on that plane and decided to help. 'That's what he means to us,' Cora said. And all that began percolating inside Cora's head when he was talking with the media about Duran. 'I was just talking, and it happened organically,' Cora said. As reported by The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey, Samaritans, Inc., a Boston-based suicide prevention service, has had a spike in texts to 'Hey Sam,' a text line for people 25 and under. (The text line is 439-726.) 'And then you start thinking about what Jarren has been through, and the thing I can keep coming back to since I found out (about the suicide attempt), and that it was going to become public, is that he's going to be saving lives,' Cora said. 'You see the numbers. Right away, they're talking about teenagers calling and looking for help since Jarren did what he did.' In 2022, when the Red Sox were in Pittsburgh to play the Pirates, Cora took his players to the Roberto Clemente Museum. 'The guy was, I always said, a Hall of Famer as a baseball player, (but) there has to be something bigger than the Hall of Fame up there,' Cora said that day, per 'And he's part of that.' Advertisement And so Cora again brought up Clemente the other day, this time in connection with Duran. I don't think he's doing any actual campaigning here. It just reaffirms how much the Clemente legacy means to the Boston manager. And it confirms just how much Duran means to the Red Sox. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
New York Times
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Jarren Duran wants those struggling with mental health to know they're not alone
BOSTON — For 12 minutes, Jarren Duran stood behind a podium in the Boston Red Sox clubhouse and discussed his mental health struggles and the message he hopes to get across in sharing his suicide attempt and recovery process in a new Netflix documentary. Duran spoke about his battles with depression and struggles with mental health in the fourth episode of Netflix's eight-part documentary, 'The Clubhouse: A year with the Red Sox.' The entire series was released Tuesday. Advertisement 'The whole purpose of me sharing it is just to kind of get it out there and let people know that they're not alone,' Duran said Tuesday, noting he has not seen the documentary yet. 'Even if I can just help one person, it's meaningful. I'm just trying to let people know that there's always help and to make sure that they're reaching out.' When Netflix announced in early 2024 that it would follow the team for a season-long documentary, Duran said he hadn't thought much about sharing his journey despite having started to open up publicly about some of his mental health struggles. Over the course of the series, Duran is interviewed several times, but he said the conversation he had with Netflix director Greg Whiteley in the fourth episode, 'Still Alive,' happened organically and it wasn't something he'd planned to reveal. 'I was sitting there kind of quiet, didn't really think that it was a good moment to talk about it, but then, I just kind of thought this could possibly help people out there that don't really want to talk about it,' Duran said. 'I just kind of took that leap of faith and hoped that it was going to do more good than bad.' Duran said support from the Red Sox and his teammates has been invaluable over the past few years as he worked through his mental health struggles and implored others to reach out for help. 'Even hearing this kind of stuff, (teammates) haven't changed the way they've talked to me or anything like that,' he said. 'So that's been the biggest thing; I didn't want it to be this thing where they like treating me differently, but no, they're still talking smack to me and I'm talking smack back to them. We still have that love language. So, it's been awesome.' One of Duran's closest friends on the team, Rob Refsnyder, has seen Duran's struggles up close and commended Duran for sharing his story. Advertisement 'I know it's going to impact a lot of people, a lot of younger people that are probably a little bit embarrassed or scared or they don't really know who to talk to about how they're feeling,' Refsnyder said. 'It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there on such a national stage. 'Shoot. I mean, we weren't having these conversations when I first started playing at the major-league level (in 2015),' he added. 'I think a lot of people struggle silently, and I think slowly the way conversation has gotten more of it's OK to ask for help. It's a lot more common than you think.' The 28-year-old Duran acknowledged it wasn't easy to speak up and he still has down moments, but he has learned methods to manage his mental well-being, particularly by journaling his thoughts. 'I've definitely reached out a lot more than I used to, that's a big thing for me,' he said. 'Even when I tell myself, I'm not going to bother with this, I go back to stuff that I journaled like, 'Hey, if you ever get into this headspace again, make sure you reach out.' So I'm just reminding myself that it's important to reach out. Knowing that other people are doing that because I talked about it, it's really heartwarming. And I hope that I can help spread the love that people need to support each other.' On Monday when news about the 'Still Alive' episode was initially reported, Samaritans, Inc., a suicide prevention service in the Boston area, received triple the number of texts compared to March 2025 to Hey Sam, its youth peer-to-peer text line for people under the age of 25 (Text: 439-726). As part of the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Samaritans also fielded more than twice as many calls compared to the previous Monday. Duran is launching the Jarren Duran Community Foundation and selling T-shirts with the phrases: 'Still alive, F— 'em' and 'Silence the demons' on the front and back. A portion of the proceeds go toward his foundation. A post shared by Big Swole (@duranjarren) 'I want to kind of focus on everybody, but also the younger generation, because I know growing up I had no idea what was going on (in terms of getting help),' he said. 'So I feel like if we can help them at a younger age, it just prepares them for their adulthood. 'I've seen a couple comments on some of my posts that are about kids, like, 'Hey, I'm your biggest fan, and knowing that you're talking about it means I can talk about it, so I wanted to say thank you.' Seeing that stuff hits really, really deep.' Manager Alex Cora noted the importance of Duran raising awareness to an issue so many people struggle with alone. Advertisement 'He's standing in that clubhouse talking about real stuff,' Cora said, adding that he believes Duran should win MLB's annual Roberto Clemente Award. 'The growth from the player, from the person, the relationships, we're very proud of him. We're saving lives now, that's what he's doing. He's saving lives. For a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeves, we should applaud him. 'We're very proud of him.' If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
New York Times
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Red Sox's Jarren Duran will get warm ovation his next at-bat. His struggle touches us all
BOSTON — Jarren Duran is going to get quite an ovation the next time he steps up to bat at Fenway Park. It'll be thunderous, yet somehow warm. It'll be heartfelt, but from the gut. And it'll have absolutely nothing to do with the breakout, MVP-caliber season Duran gave the Red Sox in 2024. In the fourth installment of the Netflix eight-part documentary, 'The Clubhouse: A year with the Red Sox,' which will be available on Tuesday, Duran reveals that he made a suicide attempt — apparently in 2022, which was a season of struggles for the then-25-year-old outfielder. The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey, who was among media members who received a copy of the documentary before its release, reports that Duran spoke candidly about his mental health in the fourth episode, titled 'Still Alive.' Advertisement Duran has discussed these issues in past interviews, but this is the first time he has talked publicly about suicide. What that does, in an instant, is transform this sensationally talented ballplayer — he's now 28 — into one of us. To consider that Duran considered suicide forces all of us to do an accounting of the people we've known who, for a myriad of reasons, felt compelled to take their own lives. For some, it's been a family member, a friend, a co-worker. Or it's one of our friend's loved ones. It's the kid down the street. It's someone you haven't seen in years, the news arriving through an item in the paper, or a Facebook post, or a story that gets mentioned at a school reunion. It touches all of us. And so it will be for Red Sox fans the next time they see Duran on the field at Fenway, be it Monday night's series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, or Tuesday's game. It won't be the first time Red Sox fans have supported a player going through a hard time off the field. On June 17, 1986, the mother of Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs was killed when the car she was driving was broadsided by a cement truck. Boggs returned home to Florida to be with his family and attend the funeral of Sue Boggs. He returned after missing six games and was in the lineup at Fenway for Boston's June 23 game against the New York Yankees. Boggs received a standing ovation from the 35,355 fans who packed the place. An emotional Boggs felt compelled to step out of the batter's box. 'That resonates so much with me right now,' Boggs said in 2016 when he returned to Fenway for the retirement of his No. 26. 'I looked at the umpire and said, 'Are we going to start the game?' And he said, 'No, I'm enjoying this.' The fans were so supportive, so wonderful.' They didn't cheer because Boggs was leading the American League in hitting at the time, or because he was on his way to the third of his five career batting titles in what turned out to be a Hall of Fame career. To see Boggs at the plate that night was to see a man who was just now getting back to work after losing his mother under tragic circumstances. Who couldn't identify with that? Advertisement And so it'll be for Duran. Sox fans cheered wildly last season as Duran submitted a .285/..342/.492 slash line and led the American League in doubles (48) and triples (14). They cheered as Duran's once-erratic outfield defense improved to a degree that he was in the Gold Glove discussion. They cheered him for the two-run homer in the All-Star Game that provided the margin of victory in the AL's 5-3 victory over the NL. Duran has had a couple of unsettling on-field incidents. In 2022, after misplaying a ball in the outfield at Kansas City, he had to be restrained by teammate Alex Verdugo when he began jawing with fans. Last August at Fenway, a live mic on NESN picked up Duran yelling a homophobic slur, presumably intended for the louth-mouth fan who can be heard shouting at him. Duran was suspended for two games in that case. Red Sox players being jeered at Fenway isn't new. It happened to Ted Williams, who always said he wanted to be the greatest hitter that ever lived, and by most measures was just that. It happened to Carl Yastrzemski, who replaced Williams in left field and forged his own Hall of Fame career. Duran was wrong on both occasions, but things were adjudicated and life went on. Duran talks about fans in the Netflix documentary. 'I feel like people see us as zoo animals sometimes, in this big ole cage, throw popcorn at you, get a picture with you, get your attention, scream your name,' Duran says. 'Sometimes some fans take it too seriously,' Duran says. 'I feel like they cross the line when they talk about my mental health and make fun of me for that, calling me weak. It triggers me when you start talking about my mental health. Part of it is that loneliness, some people deal with it better than others.' Moving forward, fans will cheer Duran or razz Duran as circumstances dictate. That's all later on. But he's got a collective attaboy coming his way at Fenway the next time he's at the plate. I haven't seen the Netflix doc on the Red Sox, and therefore can't judge its accuracy or artistry, but the title of that installment on Duran — 'Still Alive' — is something we can all cheer. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
