01x04 - Episode 4

[bunniefuu]

[crowd chattering indistinctly]

[announcer] Good evening

and welcome to Fenway Park,

America's most beloved ballpark,

for tonight's game between

the Toronto Blue Jays

and your Boston Red Sox.

[man 1] Oh, awesome, man.

[Cora] Some Celtics are

here with their trophy,

so if you wanna say hi

to them… Yeah, yeah.

This is my nephew, Jay, and

my sister-in-law, Jasmine.

[indistinct chatter]

Not used to being the shortest guy in

the room, that's for sure. [chuckles]

It's crazy. [chuckles]

[Andrew] f*cking large humans.

Bro. Huge.

- [Duran] Jarren.

- Joe.

[Duran] Nice to meet

you. Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you.

- I like your shirt.

- [Duran] Thank you. It's kinda my motto.

I'm a Lakers fan at heart.

I'm from California, but it's awesome

to see the title come back to Boston.

- [Mazzulla] It is.

- [Duran] It's awesome.

[man 2] Hey, is this a

dent? Is that a dent? Whoo!

- [man 3] That's how you know it's been

- [Cora] Been around the world. [chuckles]

We got, like, the tiniest

taste of it in '21,

going to, like, the ALCS.

And it's just like, ever since then,

you're like, "I want more. I want more."

[Mazzulla] As soon as the bell went

off, I was like, "I want more."

[Garrett] Coming up here and seeing,

like, how this city rallies around,

like, championships, it's like…

- Dude.

- It's pretty sweet.

It's the best city in America

when it comes to sports.

- I mean, I'm biased, but…

- [Garrett] He's right.

[all laugh]

[man 4] Whoo!

[Sean] It used to be that

if you were a baseball

fan and a Red Sox fan,

you hung in there with them

through thick and thin.

I don't think that

happens as much anymore.

And I think part of it is

that this is a city that

has had so much success

with all four sports teams

that there are alternatives.

[man 5] The fans of New England have

been waiting 42 years for this day.

Everyone back in Boston, we're

bringing this sucker home!

[Sean] We've had six Patriots

Super Bowl championships.

[man 6] For the 17th time, a

record, your Boston Celtics.

[Sean] NBA championships.

- Anything's possible!

- [thrilling rock music plays]

[cheering]

[Sean] And a Stanley

Cup for the Bruins.

That's a lot of

success for one town,

and I think it fuels

the other teams.

[Garrett] We feed off y'all. We

feed off what the Bruins were doing.

I don't know if other cities do that, but

I feel like that's special about here.

We watch y'all, and it's just like,

dude, everything y'all are doing,

it's just like, "Man, can we do

that too? Can we do that too?"

There is some self-imposed pressure

to keep up with the Joneses in town.

That if the Celtics are gonna be

playing for titles, we need to too.

[music continues]

And it takes a

certain personality

to be able to not crack

under that pressure.

[electric guitar riffing]

[music fades out]

[crowd chatters]

[Joe] Good evening.

Welcome to Fenway Park.

The Red Sox play the

Toronto Blue Jays.

[Will] Red Sox, a season-high,

six games over .500 right now.

- A 7-1 in the last eight.

- [US anthem plays]

[Dave] And they are in possession of

the third and final wild card spot

in the American

League right now.

[man 1] Yeah, and you

look at their roster,

and you're like, "How? How…

how are they doing this?"

- Come on, kid.

- [Duran] Love you.

Keep going. Vamos.

- [crowd chant] Let's go, Red Sox!

- We got a game to play, boys! Come on!

- [crowd] Let's go, Red Sox!

- [Duran] Yeah, vamos, vamos!

- [crowd clapping in unison]

- [Duran] We got a game to play. Let's go!

[announcer] We now ask Joe Mazzulla,

Kristaps Porziņģis, Derrick White,

Al Horford, Jaylen

Brown, and Jayson Tatum

to step forward and deliver

tonight's ceremonial first pitch.

[crowd cheering]

[announcer] There they are, your

2024 world champion Boston Celtics.

[crowd applauding]

[Dave] Alex Cora's feeling pretty

good about the Red Sox right now.

I don't think there's any question

that they have overachieved,

given the preseason expectations and

the number of injuries they've had,

and this is one of

the big reasons why.

Jarren Duran has turned himself

into one of the better

all-round players in baseball,

the way that he's

playing right now.

They will face Chris Bassitt,

who had a good start against

the Red Sox on Tuesday.

[Duran] What's up, boys?

- How you doing?

- [Duran] Good. Perfect.

I feel like it's kinda fallen

on me to… to be the leader.

I'll… I'll live and

die for my teammates.

Like, I'll do anything it

takes for my teammates.

Like, the team is more

important than one person.

I think that's something,

like, my dad instilled in me,

was not being a

c*ck little sh*t.

[Heineman] Damn, Duran

has been on a f*cking tear

since the last time I saw him.

f*cking 835 OPS. Last time I

saw him, he was f*cking 750.

[Cora] Come on, see

it, kid. See it.

[Duran] I feel like, as a

leader, like, I get nervous,

'cause it's like, if I'm not doing

good, guys are gonna be like,

"Why would I listen to you?

You're not even doing that good."

So, like, once again, I'm picking out

the negatives to think about, but, um…

But, like, that's just how I am.

[Dave] Here's Duran.

He will take a called strike

on a 93-mile-an-hour fastball.

- Come on, JD!

- [Dave] Hitting almost .300.

He's got over 20 doubles. He's got

ten triples to lead the Majors.

He's up, uh, on the leaderboard

in stolen bases with 20.

[in Spanish] Whack that

damn sinker the other way.

[in English] Swing it!

[Dave] The 0-2 is a well-hit

ball to right field,

but back and into the alley is

George Springer to make the catch.

One down.

- [Duran] f*ck!

- [fans boo]

[Duran] I feel like people see

us as zoo animals sometimes.

- [tense music plays]

- [fans booing, jeering]

[man 2] You gotta wake up!

[Duran] 'Cause we're,

like, in this big old cage.

Like, people are trying to,

like, throw popcorn at you,

like, get a picture with you…

[indistinct shouting]

[Duran] …get your attention,

like, scream your name. Like…

- [tense music continues]

- [indistinct shouting]

[Duran] Sometimes some

fans take it too serious.

[boo echoes]

I feel they cross the line when they start

talking about, like, my mental health

and, like, making

fun of me for that,

calling me weak.

It just triggered me when you

started talking about mental health

'cause I was like,

"All right, like…"

I feel like that's

just, like, part of it,

is, like, that loneliness.

Like…

[muffled booing]

[Duran] …some people deal

with it better than others.

[pensive, ethereal music plays]

[music fades out]

[director] Do you ever read papers? Do

you ever read what's written about you?

[Duran] Nah.

I mean, my dad will sh**t me a message

or something every once in a while.

But they can be hard.

That's just part of it.

I mean, that's what happens

when you play in Boston.

It's a very sports-loving place,

and they're… they're a winning city,

and they like to win, so they expect us

to play our hardest and best every day.

I remember when I

was going through it,

and, like, you start

losing a couple of games,

and, like, you're

not doing good,

like, it feels like the world's

kinda creeping in on you.

They love you one day,

and then the next day, they

gotta grind on you a little bit.

With me, it was always like, "Oh, okay."

Like, "I wanted to prove you wrong."

Like, "I wanted to be better than

what you're talking about me."

I feel like that comes

from a lot of stuff.

It's like I wanted to

make my dad proud of me.

[low, poignant music plays]

I remember, like, growing up,

my dad was always hard on me.

He'd always push me

to want to do better.

I was short. I was tiny. I was

like 5'4" going into high school,

like 100 pounds soaking wet.

I remember my dad used to yell at

me, like, "Why aren't you growing?"

I'm like, "I don't know.

That's not my fault."

But at the same

time, it was like,

"All right, I don't really

like when my dad yells at me."

My dad, he was always working,

always busy, but, like, always

trying to provide for us.

He always played sports,

and he was always, like,

pushing me to be better.

I didn't understand when I was younger.

I thought he was just being mean to me.

[Speier] His dad's like a…

a mountain of a human being.

There was this kind of dissonance

that people would experience

when they saw little Jarren

kind of trailing behind his dad,

and, uh, Jarren

described himself as…

He was like, "I get it. I'm

the runt of the litter."

His dad was a big part

of his coaching life.

There are these pictures

of the two of them holding this

giant trophy that's as big as Jarren.

[man] I coached him

since he was like five.

I was harder on Jarren

than any of the other kids.

I expected more from him.

'Cause he would tell his mom,

"Yeah, Dad's… is riding me. Why?"

And I'm like, "'Cause I want him to

be, you know… be something special."

[woman] Octavio was…

he was hard on Jarren.

And as a mom, we used to get in arguments

about that because that's my baby.

And, you know, "Don't treat my

baby that way," kind of thing.

But I think it made

Jarren who he is today.

[Duran] Yeah, it was

just, like, tough love.

Yeah, but I feel like everybody

has gone through that.

Especially, like, when

they expect you to do good,

they always wanna

be tough on you.

Like, there was a time where we were

taking BP down at the park by my house.

And I wasn't swinging the best,

so he threw… he was throwing

ba*ls at me to hit me,

and be like, "Be better. Come on,"

and would peg me with the ball.

"You… you… you gotta do

better. Gotta do better."

"It's not good enough. Not good

enough. You gotta do better."

So that, to me, was, I think,

the tough love between us,

that I always expected

perfection from him.

[Duran] Of course, I was a

kid, so I was, like, crying.

I ran home, gave my mom the tea.

"Dad's throwing the

baseball at me." Like…

And so I went back to the park,

and my dad's just sitting there.

He looks at me, goes, "I knew

you were gonna come back."

I knew he'd come back

'cause he just didn't want to leave

on that note, like, "I failed."

Like, the audacity to just stay there

after you're hitting me with baseballs,

to think I was gonna come back.

But… honestly, I think, like,

just wanted to be better for him

was, like, a thing for me too.

'Cause he was always hard on me,

so I wanted to prove him wrong.

Like, "I can do this. I can do this,

Dad." Like, "Look at this." Like…

So I feel like that was something that

really drove me when I was younger.

- [crowd murmuring]

- [music fades out]

[fan shouts indistinctly]

[Will] Fourth inning already.

Toronto and the Sox, 0-0.

And up the middle for the very

first hit of the ballgame.

Great reception by the Celtics here

at Fenway tonight with the trophy.

- [Lou] Mm-hmm.

- [Will] Which was just awesome.

What's sort of amazing about

this run the Red Sox are on,

seven of eight, they've surged

into the third wild card.

And it's really great, I think, as

a region, as a city, and frankly,

for this Red Sox group to get the feeling

of a championship back in the building.

[McDonough] Gonna

bring up Justin Turner.

[Dave] Justin Turner,

the former Red Sock.

[crowd applauds]

[Will] Fans remember him fondly

for his one year in Boston.

[Heineman] Did you like, uh…

- Did you like Turner when he was here?

- He's awesome.

- [Heineman] He's awesome?

- Awesome.

- Good teammate, and he can hit.

- [Heineman] Yeah.

[Dave] And this one is lined

into left center for a base hit.

IKF around to score,

and the Turner RBI single

gives the Blue Jays the lead.

[melodic, expectant music plays]

[music fades]

[Duran] Oh, there's my ginger.

- Hey, bud.

- There he is.

[chuckles]

- Swing that thing last night, bro.

- Thanks, man.

- [sighs]

- [Justin] What's going on?

[Duran] Just grinding.

- How you doing?

- Good grinding, though.

Yeah.

It's always a grind.

[Duran] As soon as I met Justin,

I was like, "This guy's gonna

be a… a lifelong friend."

Like, he was definitely somebody

that when I was going through

some tough stuff mentally,

that I opened up to

and, like, talked to,

and he was there for me.

- How you doing?

- [Justin] Good.

- [Duran] Yeah?

- [Justin] Good.

[Duran] How's Mama?

- She's good, man. She's getting close.

- Yeah?

[Justin] You know, we kinda had a

little bit of a connection right away

because he's a SoCal guy,

and then, obviously, you're getting

to know him and talk to him,

and you start hearing about some

of the things he's going through,

and some of the things

he's been through.

Dealing with anxiety, dealing

with the pressure of this game.

- Yeah, we need this.

- [Duran] Yeah.

It's all yours, bro.

- Duran's too big. He needs all this space.

- Shut up.

- [man] He needs all that space?

- All that space for his biceps.

[chuckling]

How's this stuff

going? This stuff?

[chuckles]

[Duran] Yeah, they've

definitely gotten some stuff.

- Yeah?

- I remember one day, it was…

I can't remember where we were, but

I was getting into it with a fan.

- Just my usual.

- Oh, good.

I forgot I was miked up, and I was like,

"Yeah, they definitely got those bits."

[laughs]

[fan shouts indistinctly]

- [Duran] f*ck you, p*ssy.

- [Duran and Justin laugh]

[Justin] Oh man.

You have guys

dropping like flies.

That's tough to deal with.

Yeah, and then we got a bunch

of, like, young guys too,

like, still, like, taking

their bumps and bruises

and learning and

stuff like that.

- Kind of like how I had to go through.

- Yeah.

So, like, that was,

like, a big thing too.

[Justin] Funny hearing him

talk about the young guys.

He's technically a young guy,

but he's been through so much.

I think he's probably there for

a lot of these "younger guys"

to help them go through some… some

things that they're going through.

The swing looks good.

Probably because it

looks like me, but…

I feel, like, athletic,

which is, like…

What I really wanted to do is

just let my athleticism take over.

Right. I feel like you're driving ba*ls

more to the pull side now than you were.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- You're gonna have that in your pocket.

- Yeah.

- Always.

You just can't get too

far one way or the other.

[Duran] Mm-hmm.

Like, I feel like early

against us up in Toronto,

you were, like, trying to guide

stuff too much the other way.

Yeah.

Like, once you get back to

the middle of the field…

- Yeah. I agree.

- …it unlocks, you know?

What're you doing

for All-Star break?

- I don't know.

- Going to the All-Star game?

- [chuckles] I hope.

- I tried to plug for you last week.

I did a couple of interviews

with your guys and, like, Jahmai,

I'm like, "Dude… get out

there and vote, bro."

- [chuckles]

- "What's going on?" Like…

I'm in like 19th

in outfield voting.

- [Justin] You're in 19th?

- [Duran] Yeah.

- [Justin] Dougie's in front of you.

- Yeah.

- [Justin] Come on, bro.

- [Duran laughs]

- I miss you, man. I miss you a lot.

- I miss you too.

Keep going. Keep

doing your thing.

I'm in Kiké's old locker,

and every day after the game,

Rob sits there and gets

a little burby burbs.

- Yeah.

- Drinks his drink.

And we sh**t the sh*t in that

corner. And we're like, "Damn."

All the time, we're like, "Dude, if

JT was here, we'd be chopping it up."

I just gave Alex three

bottles of tequila, so…

- Oh boy.

- I know you don't drink, but, um…

- We went to that

- Tell Rob to make sure he gets in there.

[Duran] I'll stick to my, uh, Coca-Cola

after the game. That'll be my bourbon.

Yeah. Your leg… Don't… don't…

don't be drinking, man.

- You… you run too hard for alcohol.

- [chuckles]

Save them hammies.

- All right. Good luck tonight, dude. Yeah.

- Thank you. You too.

[Will] Bottom half

of the fourth inning,

as we come to you from

the Monster's seats.

Toronto has grabbed a 1-0 lead.

And it'll be Duran at

the top of the order.

[Dave] Jarren Duran lined out

to right his first time up.

Lead-off hitter, some power, great

speed, looking like an all-star.

[Andrew] Plenty of time,

boys. Keep hitting it hard.

[Casas] Okay, I'm gonna guess one,

and then you're gonna guess one.

What do you think?

- I think… I think…

- [coach] Fastball.

- [Casas] Uh, I think slow.

- [Cora] Good take!

[Casas] I did think fast though.

I just wanted to agree with you.

Oh, let me guess. Good

spin, high. High fastball.

[Casas] Yeah?

- [coach] Oh.

- [Casas] Yeah. Yeah.

[Cora] Come on, JD!

[Andrew] Come on, JD!

[Duran] I'd say, like, when I

first started playing T-ball

is when I really, like, kind

of fell in love with this game.

I was always undersized,

so I guess baseball was

just that equalizer for me

as being, like, a smaller kid.

Like, I could compete

with these other kids,

and I didn't have to be

the biggest or strongest.

He's a big boy now, but growing up, he

was always the little guy, like I said,

so he always had to work extra

hard to compete with them.

[Dena] He had that, like, "I'm

a little guy" kind of mentality.

And that's been good for him

'cause he still had that

chip on his shoulder.

Even in college, he always

felt like he would be

up at 1:00 in the morning

at the cages hitting.

Crazy stuff like that, you

know, 'cause he felt like,

"Oh, somebody else is gonna be doing

this, so I need to be doing this."

[Duran] I played football all

the way up until high school.

I was always fast, I was

always, like, the quick kid,

but I was… I was

short, I was tiny.

I guess it was a blessing and a curse at

the time, to be smaller than everybody.

Like, it made me the competitor I am

now, always trying to work my hardest.

I was, like, one

of the better kids.

Then, going into my senior year,

I started getting looked at.

I think it's 'cause I

grew a little bit finally.

Long Beach State came to visit me,

and I was like, "I don't want to go."

"I don't think I'm good enough

to go visit that school." Like…

So, like, it's always been a thing for

me not, like, believing in myself. So…

But then I ended

up going, and then,

when I was in college, I just

continued to hit really good.

And I was like, "I've never

hit like this before."

Like, "This will come to an end."

Like, "Oh, this is a fluke. It'll end."

I mean, I was always the

person that was like,

"If I start talking good about myself,

then the game's gonna humble me,

and then I'm gonna start

playing like crap, and…"

But that's just how, like…

I'm just wired really weirdly.

That if I think positive about myself,

something negative is gonna happen.

I mean, it's an everyday battle

to, like, tell myself, like,

I should be proud of myself.

And I'm like, "Oh, this

is too good to be true."

Like, "Oh, this will

come to an end."

[Dave] And he's got a

base hit into center.

First hit of the

night for the Red Sox.

[Cora] Come on, Jarren.

[Lou] Duran hit hard,

found a hole up the middle.

- He's jumping! He's jumping!

- [Dave] Devers is next.

[Cora shouts in code]

[Heineman] Raffy, I don't

know if he knows what he does.

He just knows he's really

good. He sees the ball.

"I see ball. I hit

the ball hard."

- Oh yeah!

- [Dave] And this one, he got all of.

- [crowd cheering]

- [uplifting music playing]

- [cheering lifts]

- [man] Oh, he stood there the whole time.

[Dave] Like he had a feeling,

and he just hammered it.

- [commentator] This one was center cut.

- [Andrew] f*ck yeah!

- [commentator] That was a no-doubter.

- [Andrew] Yeah, yeah!

- Yeah, yeah, yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

- [players cheering]

[Andrew] Yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah! Whoo!

Let's f*cking go!

[reporter 1] Red Sox

select Jarren Duran

from Long Beach

State University.

They said at first, "Oh, he's gonna

go in the third or fourth round."

Well, those passed, and

it was the seventh round.

[reporter 2] He doesn't have a

lot of power, at least right now.

He's a guy that can stretch singles

into doubles and do that little stuff

that you're always looking for

out of a pick like right here.

He, again, felt like he

had to prove something.

[Speier] He showed up in the

Red Sox minor league system

and immediately started hitting triples

like nobody else has ever hit triples.

[commentator 1] Jarren

Duran is at third base.

[commentator 2] Wow. What speed. Man,

he was flying around those bases.

And it was like, "What on earth

is happening with this guy?"

Because he wasn't that

highly touted a draft pick,

and you're realizing

pretty quickly

that Jarren Duran is going to be

a really good major league player.

Coming into 2021, he's looking

like he may end up being

one of the best prospects

in… in all of baseball,

and he's hitting the ball

out of the park in Triple-A.

[commentator 3] Jarren Duran's

gonna watch this one go.

How about that? What a way to start.

First pitch. He tattooed that.

He's a seventh-round draft pick. Like,

you're not supposed to be that good.

You're supposed to be okay as

a seventh-round draft pick,

but now he's a top-20

prospect in all of baseball.

And he puts all this

pressure on himself.

And he's like, "I have to be the

next… you know, Mookie Betts."

My manager at the time, Billy

McMillon, calls me, and he goes, "Hey."

"You're gonna go to the big

leagues." And I was like, "What?"

[commentator 4] Well,

finally, the big league debut

for the 24-year-old

Jarren Duran.

[Barret] 2021, he comes up

in mid-July, Yankee Stadium.

Fans were behind me yelling, you

know, "Strike out the rookie!"

And I turned around and

I said, "That's my baby."

And they were like, "Oh, I'm sorry,

ma'am. Okay, he can get a hit." [chuckles]

[commentator 4] He

makes his debut,

and on the first pitch that

he sees as a big leaguer,

he rips a base hit into center.

His dad, Octavio, his mom, Dena,

other family members in attendance.

What a moment for Duran.

[Barret] He gets a hit off Gerrit Cole,

You think, "This is it. It's done."

Like, "Here he goes." And drafted.

You know, he was a second baseman.

He was a little skinny guy, and…

and he hit different, and, um…

the Red Sox said, "You

gotta go play outfield."

[Will] Duran all the way back,

still back, still back to the wall,

leaping, can't get it.

They drafted him with the

idea that they would be able

to stick him in the outfield and let

him run around a little bit more,

um, and also tap into a little

bit more of his athleticism.

But from an approach standpoint,

he… he probably wasn't ready.

[commentator 5] Mateo,

base hit right field.

Center ball, lollipop

throw from Duran.

[Duran] When I went to the outfield,

felt like a different planet.

In the infield, you're not

really seeing ba*ls in the air.

But guys are hitting the ball 100-plus

miles an hour at you in the outfield,

and the ball can,

like, soar past you.

The wind, the dimensions, like, the

way the ball just flies over there,

like, I was just

very, like, raw.

He had a hard time adjusting because

he's never played the outfield.

He had to learn it

in the major leagues.

[Duran] Everything's more difficult

to do at the big league level.

You know, I just… I tried my best,

put my hand up, I had my glasses on,

tried to get the angle, but… I'm

just right in the middle of the sun.

You think that you're alone out

there when stuff like that happens.

[pensive music playing]

I remember when I first

started struggling,

I was like…

"Just send me back down."

It honestly felt like there

was, like, a dark cloud over me,

'cause it's so easy to look

past the positive things for me,

and then to grab onto

the negative things.

[Cora] He's a good kid

that has a good heart.

A few years ago, we were… we

needed to be very patient with him,

because he wasn't feeling

comfortable around this, right?

Around Red Sox Nation.

[Will] He appears to be going back

and forth with fans out there. He is.

I just think there's the

self-doubt and the, "Do I belong?"

"Am I really good enough to be

here?" "How did I get here?"

I think that's… He starts

thinking those thoughts.

[commentator 6] You're continuing to

work that young kid, Jarren Duren…

Duran, excuse me, out there.

Oh man.

He's having a rough afternoon.

He had all this baggage about

not wanting to be a failure.

[pensive music continues]

- [Dave] So 2-1 Red Sox, top of the fifth.

- [music fades out]

And it'll be Addison Barger, Davis

Schneider, and Alejandro Kirk.

Barger grounded out

his first time up.

[Duran] Come on, Tanner.

[Cora] Rip it.

[suspenseful music plays]

[Dave] Watched him a

lot in batting practice.

He was hitting a lot of

ba*ls to left-center field.

[Cora] Attaboy! [clapping]

- Keep going!

- [Andrew] Come on, T. Come on, baby.

- [Cora] Ouch.

- [Will] That was swatted foul by Barger.

He's 0-1 with a tapper to third.

- [Andrew] Come on, Tanner.

- [Cora] You want him to swing.

[suspenseful music continues]

[Dave] To center

field, hit pretty well.

And back all the way, looping

up against the wall, and caught!

- What a great play out in center field…

- Yeah, Dory!

[Dave] …by Jarren Duran,

taking extra bases

away from Barger.

[Lou] What a play.

[Will] Outstanding play

by the man who oughta be

the American League

Player of the Week.

Are you serious with this guy,

Lou? It's every night now.

- Every night.

- [Lou] It is unbelievable.

[McDonough] One of the best

center fielders in the game,

Jarren Duran continues to do it.

[fans cheer, whistle]

[crowd] If they don't

win It's a shame ♪

For it's one, two Three

strikes, you're out at the… ♪

[Dave] Top of the seventh

already here in this one.

The Red Sox leading the Blue Jays

2-1, and how about Tanner Houck?

He gets so deep into the

game every single time out.

Come on, Tanner.

[Will] Now this is Barger, 0-2. He's

grounded out, and he's flied out.

And pretty much swings out

of his shoes every time.

[Lou] Big boy.

Come on, Tanner!

- [Will] Houck throws his 90th pitch.

- [Cora] Cuidado!

And a slider scatters

the Red Sox dugout.

[Andrew] Whoo! Holy f*ck.

That's a large

man that hit that.

Come on, Tanner!

Come on, T. Come on,

baby. Triage yourself.

[Will] So 3-2.

- [commentator] Oh, catcher's interference.

- [Andrew] What?

- [Heineman] Interference.

- [Will] Gonna send him to first.

- [Lou] You could hear that one.

- [Will] Mm-hmm.

[Lou] Barger's bat hitting

the glove of McGuire.

[Tanner muttering angrily]

- Should be out.

- [Andrew] g*dd*mn it, man.

[Will] So on catcher's

interference,

they've got a base runner

to begin the seventh.

[Cora] Oh sh*t.

What the f*ck are we

playing? God damn it.

[Andrew] Come on, Tanner.

- [player] Come on, T. Come on.

- His slide is flat right now.

[Dave] Pitch number 100 coming

up now for Tanner Houck.

Right-hander Isaiah Campbell

is now up in the bullpen.

[commentator] He's got a great… I

mean, that is a great Fu Manchu.

[Cora] Come on, Tanner.

Come on, kid. Make a pitch.

[Andrew] Ground ball

right here. Let's go.

[Will] Kiermaier, the batter.

[Cora] Come on, Tanner.

Come on, Tanner.

[Dave] And this time, he lines

it up the middle, a base hit.

And Barger is going to come in

to score, and this game is tied.

[crowd cheering]

[tense music plays]

[Will] And here

comes the manager.

And he has had Campbell

going in the pen.

[Andrew] I don't know if he's

gonna go or not. Yeah, he's going.

[Will] And the night is over for

the Red Sox staff ace, Tanner Houck.

Attaboy. Way to throw the

ball. Way to throw the ball.

f*cking b*tch.

[Cora] Hey, kid, welcome

back. Do your thing.

Make sure you slow him

down at first, okay?

Let's go. Do your

thing. Let's go.

[Dave] So the Blue Jays have tied it,

and Alex Cora has gone to his bullpen

for right-hander

Isaiah Campbell.

First batter he'll face

tonight is Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

- [Cora] Come on, kid. Make a pitch.

- [Andrew] Come on. Make a f*cking pitch.

[Cora] Ah.

[Dave] Softly hit to the right side

from shallow right, a high throw.

Kiner-Falefa is safe, and

Kiermaier will come to third.

[Will] And a little

looper on the infield,

and Toronto catching a

break, first and third.

- [Tanner groans]

- [downcast music plays]

[Dave] And it's runners on

the corners with two down.

[Cora] Come on. Vamos, vamos.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

[Will] So first and

third for Guerrero.

- [Dave] And Vladi launches one.

- [crowd cheers]

Deep left field and gone.

[Red Sox fans booing]

[Dave] It disappears

into the Boston night.

A booming three-run homer

for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

[Blue Jays fans cheering]

[Will] And Toronto grabs a 6-2

lead here in the seventh inning,

as this one came

apart in a hurry.

[Duran] This game's gonna

humble everybody at some point.

This game is just too hard

not to humble somebody.

I started thinking

about when I debuted…

[Will] And it brings up

the rookie, Jarren Duran.

Swing and a miss, strike three.

[Duran] …and, like, how I felt like

I was just on a fricking island

all by myself, and the world was

falling apart beneath my feet.

[woman] Duran's so fast

if he can get on base,

but it seems like it's

been a struggle lately.

[Sean] This is a draining game.

It demands a lot of you mentally.

Jarren has been so consumed

with not letting people down,

whether it be the

team that drafted him

or his family.

That can be a lot to deal with,

no matter how much raw physical

talent and tools you have.

[commentator 1] Duran

trying to locate it.

[commentator 2] Duran has

no idea where this ball is.

- None whatsoever.

- [commentator 1] Wow.

I missed a fly ball

in center field.

'Cause I lost it in the twilight,

and it landed behind me.

[commentator 1]

Tapia to the plate.

And it is a grand slam

inside the park. Wow.

[Bill Burr] Hey, what's going on?

This is Bill Burr. I'm at Fenway Park,

where you hit

inside-the-park home runs

'cause people lose

it in the lights.

[Duran] I didn't even wanna turn

around. I was afraid to look at fans.

When failure occurred for

him in the big leagues,

he didn't have that solid foundation

to know, like, "This is okay."

"It's okay to struggle. I'm

going to work through that."

I remember, like, being at the

stadium and hearing my name called,

and they would boo.

I'm like, "Damn."

Or I'd go to, like, center

field, they'd be like,

"You don't belong here.

Go back to Triple-A."

At Fenway.

They didn't know how

hard I was trying.

[Dena] You know, New York,

Boston, LA, it's like,

"Bring in the next guy."

"Okay, this guy's not

doing it. Get rid of him."

They don't think

of them as people

and how hard they've worked

to get where they're at.

And they were just like,

"He sucks. He sucks."

You know, and he had to be in the outfield

listening to them yell behind him,

"You suck, Jarren."

- [crowd chants] You suck!

- [fans shouting]

- [crowd] You suck!

- [man shouting angrily]

[voice breaking] As a mom,

it's just like every at-bat is,

"Oh, please, God, let him get a hit."

"Please, God, let him catch that ball."

It's t*rture.

[commentator 2] It's a tough one

today. Look at him. He's not happy.

He's jawing with a fan up there.

You know, he's letting

the game get to him.

[Barret] To feel it from the fans

and, like, to feel it on social media

and in the crowd, and then

he goes home to an apartment…

You know, he's alone.

He's… There's no family

here. There's no girlfriend.

There's no wife. There's no

fian… You know, there's no kids.

It's just him and his thoughts,

and that's a… you know…

At the time, it was

a scary place to be.

But if Jarren Duran misplays a

ball in the sun, and you're like,

"Hey, Duran, catch the next one,"

and he turns around, "I'll k*ll ya!"

Like, this… this

guy, he's lost it.

- He has.

- He's absolutely lost it.

[Duran] And I would think every day,

like, "I can't f*cking do this."

I couldn't deal with… telling myself

how much I sucked every f*cking day.

Like, I was already

hearing it from fans.

And, like, what they say to me,

it's like, I haven't told myself ten

times worse than that in the mirror.

[bat thuds]

That was, like, a really,

uh, tough time for me.

Yeah.

[man 1] Jarren Duran, who's proving

to be one of the worst fielders

in the entire game right now.

You're Jarren Duran. You

kind of just suck in the MLB.

Like, I'm sorry to say it.

[man 2] This is just another

classic case of a prospect coming up

and not meeting expectations.

You wanna help this ball club,

Duran needs to go back to

Triple-A and figure himself out.

[Duran] It was a pretty low time for me.

Like, I didn't even wanna be here anymore.

But, um…

[director] When you say "here,"

you mean here with the Red

Sox or here on planet earth?

Um…

Probably both. Yeah.

Probably both. That was, like,

a really, uh, tough time for me.

Yeah.

I got to the point where

I was sitting in my room.

I had my, um… my r*fle,

and I had a b*llet, and…

I pulled the trigger and the g*n

clicked, but nothing happened.

So… to this day, like, I think

God just didn't let

me take my own life,

because I seriously don't know,

like, why it didn't go off.

But I took it

as a sign of, like, "All right, I

might have to be here for a reason."

So then that's when I started

to look myself in the mirror.

After the g*n didn't go off, I was

like, "All right, well, like, let's…"

I was like, "Do I wanna be here,

or do I not wanna be here?"

Like, I looked myself in

the mirror, and I was like,

"That happened for

a reason. Like…"

"Obviously, you're f*cking

here for a reason."

"So, like, let's f*cking…"

"Let's f*cking be the way you wanna

be. Let's play the way you wanna play."

"And let's, you know, just

live the way I wanna live."

[director] Have you talked about

this with people you're close to?

Like, for instance,

your dad or your mom?

[breathes deeply]

I don't think I've told them

the full extent like that.

I know eventually I need to sit down

with them and tell them the whole story.

It's just… it's scary

to me because I don't…

I hate putting my parents

through stuff like that.

It's hard to see them get

upset when I tell them,

and it just makes me

feel like a bad person.

I don't wanna burden other

people with my problems.

[director] A heavy

burden to carry.

Yeah. God gave me a good back, so I'm

carrying it pretty well. [chuckles]

["Wave of Mutilation"

by Pixies plays]

[man] Morning. Welcome

back to the Fenway Rundown.

We're gonna get into

Jarren Duran opening up on the mental

toll of struggling in the majors.

You know, he… he opened up.

And we talked about all the

different things he's been through,

you know, in the last

couple of months.

You know, some of the quotes,

"I've been pretty low this year."

"It's been a struggle

to stay here."

"I try so hard to

please everybody

so when I hear people bad-mouthing

me and they're home fans,

I take it to heart."

"I just ask for forgiveness whenever

I don't do what they ask me to do."

"I'm trying my best, and I

just hope they know that."

I just wanna commend Jarren

Duran on speaking up.

It's not an easy thing to do,

and, um, wish him the best.

Cease to resist,

giving my goodbye… ♪

[Duran] On my left wrist,

I write "f*ck 'em,"

'cause it's me telling my

demons, like, "f*ck you."

Like, "You're not

gonna faze me."

And then, on my right wrist,

I write "still alive,"

'cause I'm still here,

and I'm still fighting.

You'll think I'm

dead, but I sail away ♪

Hey, hey, hey, hey ♪

We're gonna win this, boys.

Here we go. Come on. Come on.

On a wave of mutilation… ♪

- Please, God.

- [Will] Toronto has the 6-2 lead.

Getting late.

- [Cora] Go, boys.

- [Andrew] Come on.

[Will] Red Sox in real need

of an answer here from Duran.

Wave… ♪

[Will] He'll get

another pop-up here.

Berger and Kiner-Falefa

will not make the play.

- And Duran is gonna get to second.

- [crowd cheers]

He was running

hard the whole way.

[Lou] That's exactly why you

hustle every single time.

[Cora] That's how you play

the game. Just like that.

- f*cking pop-up double.

- Double.

This is where it

gets interesting.

[suspenseful music plays]

[Dave] David Hamilton,

the batter, 0-3.

[Cora] Fling it!

- [Red Sox players] Oh!

- [Dave] And he hit right. Well hit.

- And it is gone.

- [crowd cheers]

[Cora] Let's go!

[Dave] And just like that,

it is a two-run game.

[fans cheering, whistling]

[Cora] Let's go, baby. Way

to f*cking play the game.

[Andrew] Hell yeah, hell yeah.

- [Heineman] Needed that? You deserve that.

- [Duran chuckles]

You f*cking deserve that.

That's for damn sure.

[Dave] So Nate Pearson, out of the

game, gives up the two-run homer.

It is 6-4 with two outs

and the bases empty.

[Will] And here comes Mazza

to take on Rafael Devers.

Red Sox with a two-run homer from

David Hamilton to jump back in it…

- [Cora] Swing it!

- [Andrew] Swing that sh*t.

[Dave] And softly hit

into center, a base hit.

- [rousing music plays]

- [Andrew] Let's go, TO.

[Dave] O'Neill is going to

come up as the tying run.

[Lou] This is the

matchup you did not want.

The always dangerous

Tyler O'Neill.

[commentator] You got a big boy up

here with 15 homers, got full power,

and this could be scary.

[Will] Into center field. On

the approach, here's Kiermaier.

- He can't get it.

- [Cora] Hey!

- [crowd cheering]

- [Will] Devers taking off for third.

He'll stop there.

O'Neill into second.

[Cora] Yes!

[Will] Kiermaier did not make the

play, and the Red Sox are in business.

Second and third with two down.

[Dave] And it's the noisiest it's

been all night here at Fenway.

[Will] With two down at the

bottom of the eighth inning,

the Celtics remaining

on hand to watch.

And that'll bring

on Romy González.

- Swinging at the first pitch.

- [cheering erupts]

He lines it into the outfield.

- One run is in. Two runs are in.

- [fan cheering]

- [Andrew] Let's f*cking go!

- [Will] This game is tied.

- [raucous cheering]

- [overlapping indistinct shouting]

[Will] Oh, this

place is rocking.

[Lou] Rocking right now.

[cheering fades]

[director] His mental health struggles,

when did you first learn about them?

[Octavio] Probably when he

had that really bad season.

[director] Did he talk to

you about his depression?

No, not really. He just

doesn't really… bring that up.

I don't… I don't push him to it,

and he just doesn't bring it up.

[director] Do you wish he would?

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

For sure.

This was new to us and… scary.

And you don't want your child to

feel that way, to feel not worthy,

to feel like they

shouldn't be here.

But I'm proud of how

he's reacted to it.

[poignant music plays]

He's hitting it head on.

That's how he does things

though. Always has.

[Barret] Early on, he wasn't

opening up, and it was tough for me,

tough for his parents, and it's like,

"What do we do? How do we help him?"

And since then, he's

started journaling

and really doing, like,

just self-examination

to say, like, "This is

not the end all, be all."

That is what really has brought him to,

like, not live and die on this field

and what happens tonight,

tomorrow, or last night.

[Duran] I used to, like,

ramble and just write,

but now I've prioritized

my journaling

to figure out, like,

why I feel certain ways.

This book talks about, like,

affirmations, and this one's a good one.

It goes, "I am worthy of success

and celebrate my achievements,

no matter how small."

[director] Do you

have any regrets?

Is there anything you would

do differently with him?

I should've separated

baseball and the personal

when it came to

our relationship.

And that was my fault,

and I… now I see that.

[Speier] He got to

a healthier place

with regards to his balance,

uh, between baseball and life,

and his production followed.

- Attaboy, Dory! f*ck!

- Let's go, kid!

I had a breakout year last year.

- [crowd cheers]

- [Will] And it's off the pole and gone.

Jarren Duran with a home run.

Going into the season

of '23, I was like,

"All right… I'm gonna do

what I want for my swing."

I just know what

makes me better.

[Speier] By the time

he came around in 2023,

he had first become more

open about discussing

the kind of internal

struggles he had faced.

He also was able to recalibrate

a little bit, I think,

when he played for Team Mexico

in the World Baseball Classic.

[uplifting music plays]

[Duran] That was some of the

funnest baseball I've played.

Just baseball lovers playing against

other baseball lovers, and it was sick.

- [crowd cheers]

- [commentator] Duran scores!

[Duran] I got to act

like a little kid.

Just every base hit,

I got to jump out of the dugout

like it was Game 7 World Series,

and with a sombrero on to add.

- [music fades]

- [cheering subsides, fades out]

Taking joy in competing,

um, maybe tapped into

something for Jarren Duran.

[Will] This is one of those

special Fenway nights,

and the Red Sox have the

Celtics on their feet.

Joe Mazzulla had the O'Brien

Trophy held up above his head,

trying to will these

Sox to a magical win.

- [Cora] Let's go. Let's go.

- [Andrew] Hell yeah. Let's go, boys!

[Will] And we're all locked up, 6-6,

bottom of the ninth, and here we go.

The speed guys coming

up for the Red Sox,

Rafaela, Duran, and Hamilton.

Three of the fastest guys

in the American League.

[Andrew] Oh, I would

f*cking love it.

[Will] Rafaela bunts at

it, and it's strike one.

- Stay humble. Here we go!

- [Will] Duran on deck.

Swing and a ground ball up the

middle to the second baseman. Gloves.

- [Cora] Yeah!

- [Dave] He can't make the play!

- [crowd cheers]

- [Will] Rafaela beats it out.

And the Red Sox have the winning

run aboard to begin the ninth.

- [Rafaela] Nice.

- [Will] That speed is just a k*ller.

f*cking beautiful.

- [suspenseful music plays]

- [fans whistle]

[Will] But here's the

Red Sox's hottest hitter

with a chance to win the game.

[umpire] That's a balk!

[Will] Pitch to him is…

That's a balk!

- A balk? Is that a balk? Yes, it is!

- [players] Yeah!

- Let's go!

- [Andrew] He's f*cking rattled!

He sh*t-f*cked it!

[Lou] You know what? The

clock was running down.

[Will] So he had to hurry.

[Lou] He started, tried to hurry,

and he never came to a stop.

[Will] And the Red Sox have

the winning run at second base

here in the ninth inning,

on a balk after an error.

- [cheering, clapping]

- [whistle blows]

[in Spanish] Let him bat.

[suspenseful music continues]

[commentator in English] This is

who I want up in this situation.

If they're gonna challenge him and

go after him, this might sting 'em.

[Andrew] You gotta

walk him, right?

[in Spanish] Let him

bat. Let him bat.

[in English] Attaboy!

[crowd clapping]

[tense electronic music plays]

Rock it in the gap.

Rock it in the gap.

[Will] 1-1, the pitch is high.

Hamilton, who gave the Red Sox

the two-run homer in the eighth,

he's on deck.

[Cora in Spanish]

If it's a walk,

get to Hamilton quickly,

and tell him to hit it

so the pitcher can field it.

Okay? To the right

of the pitcher.

- [tense music continues]

- [fans cheering]

[Dave in English] The Red Sox

threatening to walk it off.

- ["Wave of Mutilation" by Pixies plays]

- That's it. That's a base hit!

Here comes Rafaela rounding,

trying to score, the ball home.

- And he wins it!

- [cheering erupts]

[Duran] Let's go!

Ball game over! Duran, the hero!

[players cheering]

[Will] Jarren Duran, his first

career walk-off for the Sox.

They're in the win column.

Cease to resist,

giving my goodbye ♪

Drive my car… ♪

- [Ramón] Let's f*cking go! Vamos!

- Into the ocean… ♪

[in English] f*ck yeah, JD.

f*ck yeah, baby. You're the man.

- [overlapping jubilant chatter]

- On a wave of mutilation… ♪

- [crowd cheering]

- Wave of mutilation ♪

Wave of mutilation ♪

Wave… ♪

- [Duran] Whoo!

- That's cold.

- I don't know what it comes from…

- [music fades]

…but I just never feel

like I'm that good.

I don't know. It's just like these

inner demons that don't let me

love myself or wanna

be proud of myself.

That's still something

I'm working on.

You were great.

Absolutely great.

And the play? How's your back?

- Dude, I feel like up here…

- You gotta be scratched up.

- [woman] Can we have your autograph?

- [Barret] That was a great play.

Every once in a while, I'll catch

myself being proud of myself,

and I'm like, "Damn.

This is a good feeling."

- I'll let you know. See you, man.

- [Duran] Love you. Thank you.

[Barret chuckles]

So proud of you.

Yeah. Couple more coming.

- Yeah.

- [Barret chuckles]

[boy 1] Duran, please!

I gotta go. I'm sorry.

[boy 2] You're the

best player in the MLB.

[Barret chuckles]

But the demons always come back

and… and bring me back to earth,

so that's still

something I'm working on.

[reflective blues

guitar music plays]

[music continues]

[music fades out]

[earth skitters]

[child giggles]

- [gull calling]

- [waves lapping]

[clicking]

- [commentator] Number 23.

- [crowd cheers]

[strings stab]