Jarren Duran's Jersey Sales Surge Amid Controversy

Jarren Duran, a player for the Boston Red Sox, has in an unexpected turn of events turned into a source of controversy, as he has gained traction among certain groups after the homophobia controversy and subsequent follow-up apology. While the majority of people have called out the player for his thoughtless and not so sincere apology, apparently the apologies is what pushed the player to a new level of popularity with most of his preceding critics being suporters of his initial comments. As of Tuesday morning, the jersey has not managed to break into the top 20 on MLBShop.com, yet for the category Red Sox it is ranked first. Additionally, the jersey has entirely sold out in sizes Large, 3XL, and 4XL.

It is rather troubling that sports merchandise can become perceived as a symbol for propogating damaging and discriminative ideals. It appears that homophabile and anti-gay sentiments are supported enough financially to emerge into a full-blown commercial success. On the one hand it is just merchandise and should should not be make much of it, but on the other, it can demonstrate some of the issues in addresing hate speech and creating a safe and womcusive evironment for the MLB and Red Sox.