The Red Sox and Mental Health Talk

Each year, Peerstar of PA, participates in different Mental Health Awareness Events hosted at different baseball fields and games

One accepted definition of persistence is “continued existence or occurrence.”As I’ve navigated the weary waters of my own mental health, I’ve often been struck silent by the question: Why am I still here?

Pondering life’s purpose feels like one of the universe’s favorite jokes—a joke I’ve come to believe is whimsical in nature, nudging us to remember who we are. The darkest depths of trauma allow the brightest lights of love to shine, and we each carry a light the world desperately needs. No matter what we’ve endured, where we’ve been, where we are or where we’re going—I firmly believe that love is the answer.

Like so many, I’ve struggled to rediscover my purpose and live each day attempting to embody it. The daily grind affects us all and often pits us against each other, whether we’re racing to be next in line at the drive-thru or the first one out of the office. These little battles are part of a larger war for our attention.

In the midst of these battles, it’s easy to lose sight of The Big Picture™—that we’re all connected in this chaotic, beautiful existence. Every gesture, every cross word, carries enough energy to make or break someone’s day. The old proverb “give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime” resonates more deeply with me now than ever before when you replace the fish with a smile.

Mental health awareness is celebrated in May, but how often do we observe it in our daily lives? The struggles we each face are very real—and they’re most real to us. We’ve been conditioned to believe our pain is somehow more significant, our trauma worse. That’s not to say kindness doesn’t exist, but it’s a challenge to all of us (myself included) to approach others with more patience, more love, and more grace than perhaps we received at our lowest.

In my own healing, I remember feeling utterly alone. I believed no one could possibly understand how I felt, that no one had lived what I had. I grew up idolizing celebrities and athletes—people who seemed to have it all. But the naivety of youth blinded me to the emotional weight of trauma. That lack of understanding? It’s part of the very conditioning that once had me asking why I was still here.

That’s why I find myself forever a fan of Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. In Netflix’s The Clubhouse, a behind-the-scenes look at the Red Sox, Duran speaks openly about his mental health. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand that fame brings with it immense pressure—compounded by the everyday weight of simply being human. It’s easy to envy those we believe live easier, shinier lives. But what we imagine isn’t always what’s real.

Duran debuted in the Big Leagues at 24 in 2021. Between 2021 and 2022, he struggled mightily—so much so that he contemplated taking his own life. Becoming a professional baseball player takes immeasurable effort. Only around 21,000 people have ever done it. Jarren Duran was one of them, living the dream, and still struggling.

His openness struck a deep chord with me. I’m no longer the naïve boy who believed someone in a jersey must be happy all the time. I hope to grow wiser with every breath, and I can only do that by sharing this truth alongside people like Jarren Duran, who live their reality openly. I’ve worked to be more patient, more understanding, and more loving than I ever imagined possible when I was young. Back then, I was so lost that other people’s stories would have been buried beneath my own disconnection.

Timing can be everything, and it was in Jarren’s case. Thankfully, his attempt to extinguish his own light wasn’t successful. He not only took another breath—he found clarity and strength that carried him forward.

Jarren had a much stronger season in 2023, producing the kind of numbers that help keep a player in the Big Leagues. A Major League season has 162 regular season games. Between 2021 and 2022, Duran played in just 91. With barely half a season under his belt, he bore the full weight of expectation, faltering under a spotlight many of us never face. And he did it in front of a relentless fanbase, ready to boo every strikeout or dropped ball.

Bent, but not broken.

In 2024, two years after nearly ending his life, Jarren Duran performed at an MVP-caliber level for the Red Sox and made his first All-Star Game. That game showcases the best of the best each year in Major League Baseball—and Jarren didn’t just show up, he stood out. He was named All-Star Game MVP, awarded to the most outstanding player in baseball’s game of stars. Wherever his career goes from here, Jarren Duran will always be immortal in the baseball world.

One of my favorite definitions of persistence is Jarren Duran.

Cory Dell, CPS