Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen is set to be at the center of a unique piece of MLB history. On Monday, the veteran will become the first player ever to play for two opposing sides in the same game.
How is this possible, you might ask? The Toronto Blue Jays, Jansen’s former team, will be visiting Fenway Park next week to kick off a four-game series against the Red Sox in Boston, Mass.
But before Monday’s originally scheduled series opener, the teams will resume a June 26 game that was suspended due to rain.
Jansen was still with the Blue Jays during the contest two months ago. In fact, he was the man in the batter’s box for just before the umpired called the game with the score still at 0-0.
On July 27, the Red Sox traded for Jansen ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora has since announced that he plans to insert Jansen in the lineup for the restart of the June 26 contest. Jansen will be replacing Reese McGuire, who has since been DFA-ed, at catcher.
IT'S HAPPENING!!!!!
Alex Cora, @RedSox manager, has announced that on Monday, Danny Jansen will substitute in for Reese McGuire at catcher (who is not on the current roster) for the resumption of the 6/26 game with the @BlueJays), meaning he will not only become the first player… https://t.co/F7OfOA42f4
— MLB Scoring Changes (@ScoringChanges) August 23, 2024
Not only will Jansen be the first player to play for both teams in the same game, but he will also catch the at-bat that he initially started two months prior.
Jansen had an 0-1 count before the game was suspended. Since the Blue Jays’ pinch hitter won’t inherit a 2-strike count, the pinch hitter will be charged with the outcome of the at-bat. That erases the bizarre possibility that Jansen could have caught his own strikeout.
There has been buzz ever since Jansen was traded to the Red Sox that this exact scenario could happen. Cora apparently wasn’t going to stand in the way of history.
