The world of baseball was just formally introduced to Jarren Duran

ARLINGTON, Texas - Nearly 26 years ago, Octavio Duran was the first to discover the gift his son, Jarren, possessed.

That was thanks to a seemingly innocuous lob of a Wiffleball across the living room.

'At two years old I gave him a bat," Octavio remembered. "I threw a ball at him and he actually hit the ball right back at me. I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ From there I thought he had something special."

Tuesday night at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the world got a taste of that same realization Octavio had uncovered thanks to a plastic bat and plastic ball. This time, however, the living room was represented by Globe Life Field, and Jarren's swing of the bat resulted in something much more than just a line-drive past the coffee table.

This was a 413-foot blast off of Reds star pitcher Hunter Greene that landed well into the right-field seats and delivered both a 5-3 win for the American League and the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP Award to Duran.

"Yeah, I mean, All-Star Game, first home run All-Star Game MVP, it is a first," said Duran when asked about the unique feeling he was leaving the All-Star festivities with. "And I'm just very thankful. It's hard to put into words. It won't hit me until I try to go to sleep tonight. Who knows if I'll be able to sleep tonight."

The excitement exuding from all the Durans at the postgame press conference - whether it be Jarren at the podium or his family in the back row of seats - offered the image of a group that wasn't about to prioritize sleep.

There have been plenty of signature checkpoints for the 27-year-old throughout this 2024 season, which was why he found himself as part of the American League's squad. But this was different. This was about as a defining a moment as this player could have ever hoped for.

His presence and story had been gaining momentum in recent months. Playing every game with the fifth-best WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in all of baseball will do that. There was also his well-documented battle with mental health, and the spicy slogans that helped him get that message across.

And then came the trip to Texas.

While playing time and performance in the actual game would be an uncertainty, Duran managed to keep separating himself even before the first pitch. That was thanks to the extremely unique suit made for him in New York just a few weeks earlier.

Even if there was no home run, it would have been a step in the right direction when it came to helping introduce Duran to stardom. But there was that home run. And there is that stardom.

For Duran, siphoning recognition from these few days wasn't the priority. Making sure this accomplishment was enjoyed by Octavio and his mother, Dena, was.

Mission accomplished.

Sitting up from the first-base dugout (with the Netflix cameras following their every move), the collection of fans wearing orange "Duran" jerseys got their latest - and perhaps most memorable - gift.

"I mean, it's kind of hard to put into words, but honestly, I couldn't stop thinking my family and being able to go see them after the game," he said.

"I almost lost it," Octavio said when asked about going down to the field after the game to greet Jarren. "Every since he was little, he would go to tournaments and camps and kids would win trophies and he would always say, ‘Dad, don’t worry about it. I’ll win the big one.’ Sure enough, he won the MVP Award."

That he did.

And the world of baseball won't every look at him the same way again because of it.

"It's just -- I don't know, it's a surreal moment," the Red Sox outfielder said. "So I'm just thankful to be here."