In Boston, we have learned that nothing is impossible in baseball. Selfishly, we have even come to expect it after the miracle comeback in 2004 and the improbable joyride of 2013.
“It’s a surreal moment,” said the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game late Tuesday night.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Jarren Duran sat alone at a table facing the rest of the room. A bank of television cameras stared back at him, as did a large group of reporters, along with his parents and brother.
But this latest bit of improbability, Duran winning a trophy named after Ted Williams, stretched the bounds of imagination.
In a game that featured Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, and a galaxy of other notables, Duran was the difference maker. It was his two-run homer in the fifth inning that gave the American League a 5-3 victory.
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It was a blast Williams himself would have been proud of. Duran took a strike from Reds fireballer Hunter Greene expecting the next pitch would be something he could handle. It was, and he didn’t miss it.
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“He seems to always amaze me,” Octavio Duran said of his son.
Duran was not one of those kids who specialized in one sport. Growing up in southern California, his father encouraged him to play football and basketball, too.
“He loved to hit. He was a good football player,” Octavio Duran said with pride. “Linebacker and free safety.”
It makes sense. Duran looked like a linebacker trying to play baseball in his first two major league seasons. He was strong and fast but also angry and impatient, once shouting back at heckling fans in Kansas City in 2022 after losing a ball in the sun.
It got to a point where Duran had to be calmed down by two teammates during a pitching change.
Through two seasons he was a .219 hitter with little power and seemingly few instincts on the field. It would not have been a surprise had the Sox given up on Duran.
The Sox instead molded their lump of clay. Alex Cora kept writing his name in the lineup and the coaches refined his skills. Teammates threw their arms around him.
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“Everybody’s invested in Jarren,” Rob Refsnyder said a few weeks ago.
Duran returned the love as he sat in that crowded interview room, name-checking Cora, outfield coach Kyle Hudson, hitting coaches Pete Fatse and Ben Rosenthal, along with Refsnyder and Trevor Story.
“Basically all my boys. Everybody on the team,” Duran said.
Duran still had on his eye black as he took questions, and his cap was on backward. But his jersey was gone, having been donated to the Hall of Fame. It’ll be on display in Cooperstown soon.
Truth be told, it was ugly anyway. He’s better off.
Besides, there are other trophies to win this season, more important ones. The All-Star Game was another piece of evidence that the Red Sox aren’t going away. Duran will get a quick breather then join the team in Los Angeles for a series against the Dodgers.
He was already looking forward to what comes next.
“We play every game hard. We run out ground balls, we put pressure on the defense,” Duran said. “I think it’s just one of those things where we’re just staying together and we’ve got each other’s backs.
“I know we get beat up sometimes, but the way we come back and fight back is a huge thing. That’s awesome out of a young team. I’m excited about the way we’re going to take the second half.”
As the Duran family prepared to leave Globe Life Field and venture out into the hot Texas night to celebrate, Octavio was asked if he might be watching his son on the field during big games in October.
“I hope so. The team is playing really well, real confident with themselves,” he said. “Just good chemistry, good pitching, great defense, very aggressive on the bases, and Cora’s got them going in the right direction.”
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Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.