Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran showed up to Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game in a vibrant suit that was tagged by Pedro Martinez as the best of the night, but he almost chose a different outfit.
Duran’s pink and orange floral suit was designed by Tom Marchitelli of “Gentleman’s Playbook.”
The suit Duran wore was the first suit that Marchitelli showed him, but the outfielder didn’t think that was something he would wear. After looking at more options, the first-time All-Star decided to take a second look at the suit.
“That was the first suit he showed me, and he was like ‘I have this awesome suit’ and when he first showed me, I was like ‘Yeah, I can’t do that, like that’s not me, I can’t wear that,'” Duran told WEEI’s Rob Bradford. “Then as we started going through different patterns and colors and stuff like that, I was like ‘Can you show me that first suit again?'”
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Marchitelli had told Duran that he tried to sell some of his other clients on the suit, but no one wanted to wear it.
The colors weren’t the only thing that got people’s attention, but also what was in the lining of the suit. On the left side, the outfielder had his signature motos “(explicit) ’em” and “Still Alive.” Then, on the other side, Duran had “1st All-Star Game” to mark the special occasion.
“He asked me if I wanted to do anything custom on the inside and I, of course, instantly went to what I always wear on my wrists,” Duran said. “It’s not a disrespectful thing, I hope nobody takes it in that light. It’s just a really heartfelt thing to me, that’s just how I attack mental stuff.”
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The 27-year-old was shown the suit while the Red Sox were playing the Yankees in New York and had the fitting later in Boston. Despite seeing the suit on, he was nervous to go out on the carpet and show it off to the world.
“That was the most nervous thing,” Duran said. “Honestly, when I saw our media team and they loved it I was like ‘Okay, I’m fine now.’ Just having close people like that, telling me they like the outfit meant more to me than anything.”
Duran didn’t just have success with the suit, but also during the All-Star game, winning the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award with his two-run home run.
Featured image via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
