Major League Baseball teams maintain tight security and privacy in numerous ways.
What occurs inside the clubhouse between players is regarded as sacred, with media access limited to just 50 minutes before each game. Meetings involving front-office staff, the manager, coaches, and players are held behind closed doors.
However, MLB wanted fans to gain insight into a team’s inner workings throughout spring training and the 162-game regular season. The league approached Netflix with the idea of creating a documentary series that would focus on a single team during the 2024 season.
The Boston Red Sox were selected from a group of teams willing to participate. The outcome was “The Clubhouse: A Year With The Red Sox,” a documentary series produced by four-time Emmy winner Greg Whiteley. The series, which premiered Tuesday, features all episodes of the eight-part series.
It’s hard to imagine the docuseries being any better than it turned out.
Whiteley used his unique access to craft a narrative about a season that began with high hopes before the Red Sox’s pennant chase faded in September. What’s particularly striking is how Whiteley got players to share deeply personal and compelling stories.
“The Red Sox were very open and cooperative, which really helped,” Whiteley said. “They were fully on board. They believed it would be good for baseball and the Red Sox, and I’m really pleased with the final product.”
One of the most notable moments in the series occurs in Episode 4, where center fielder Jarren Duran openly discusses his struggles with depression and anxiety, particularly during his challenging rookie season in 2022 when he was transitioning from infielder to outfielder at the major league level.
Duran has been candid about his mental health issues and sees it as a mission to help others facing similar challenges. “If there are kids out there who are feeling what I’ve felt, experiencing what I’ve experienced, and if being open about it helps them, I’ll do it,” Whiteley explained.
“I think Jarren spent a long time believing he was alone in his struggles. Now that he has this platform as a Major League Baseball player, he wants to use it. He really drove the project,” Whiteley added.
In an incredibly raw moment, Duran reveals he once attempted suicide during the 2022 season. He recalled holding a rifle, but it didn’t discharge.
“I couldn’t deal with telling myself how bad I was every day,” Duran said. “I was already hearing it from fans, and what they said, I had said worse to myself in the mirror. It was a really tough time, and I didn’t even want to be here anymore.”
Whiteley then asked Duran, “When you say, ‘here,’ do you mean here with the Red Sox, or here on Earth?”
“Probably both,” Duran responded.
Playing in one of the most media-driven markets in the country, Duran admitted the criticism took a significant toll on him.
“I remember when I first started struggling, I thought, ‘Just send me back down to the minors,’” Duran said. “It felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over me because it’s so easy for people to overlook the positives and focus on the negatives.”
The boos from Fenway Park’s home crowd only added to Duran’s anxiety. He compared players to “zoo animals” due to the intense scrutiny from fans.
“When they start making fun of my mental health, calling me weak, that crosses the line,” Duran said. “It triggered me because mental health is part of it—it’s that loneliness. Some people handle it better than others.”
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