Danny Jansen makes MLB history by playing for both teams in same game as Red Sox, Blue Jays resume
BOSTON — Under sunny skies, 112-year-old Fenway Park witnessed even more history Monday afternoon.
Danny Jansen was batting for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Boston Red Sox on June 26 with one batter on base and one out, and the score tied at 0-1, when the skies opened up and the game was stopped due to bad weather.
Two months later, the game resumed on Monday, but this time with Jansen playing for the Red Sox. The Red Sox traded for Jansen on July 27, creating the possibility of one player appearing for both teams in the same game.
On Monday, the possibility became reality.
When Jansen was substituted into the game to catch for the Red Sox, he stepped behind the plate for an at-bat in which he had started as the batter. (Boston’s original catcher in the game, Reese McGuire, had been assigned to the duty shortly after the team traded Jansen for another catcher.)
With Jansen behind the plate, the Blue Jays brought in Daulton Varsho to take over Jansen’s original 0-1 plate appearance. Varsho struck out, fouling off Nick Pivetta’s first pitch and striking out the second. (If the count was two strikes(It would have been credited to Jansen’s line, but went to Varsho instead.) After the strikeout, the runner on first advanced to second and Jansen’s throw went to center. But Will Wagner followed with a strikeout to end the inning.
“At first I didn’t really think about it,” Jansen said of the possibility of playing for both teams before the game. “But now we’re here and it’s going to be a cool moment, especially when it’s all said and done, to look back and it’s such a weird thing that happens, but I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to do it and it’s going to be cool.”
Pinch-Hitting for Danny Jansen: Daulton Varsho
Now in the picture: Danny Jansen
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 photo.twitter.com/PXnVZvbpml
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 26, 2024
Before the game, the Red Sox announced their revised lineup, with Jansen batting seventh and Triston Casas batting eighth, with McGuire batting in the original lineup. Pivetta is normally a starter, but he took over for Kutter Crawford on the mound in what will officially be considered a relief appearance.
Game 1, Red Sox vs. Blue Jays: Duran CF, Hamilton 2B, Abreu RF, Devers 3B, Refsnyder LF, Yoshida DH, Jansen C, Casas 1B, Rafaela SS, Pivetta P
— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) August 26, 2024
The Blue Jays had to replace five players from the original lineup who would not play in the game, including transfers and shortstop Bo Bichette, who is on the IL.
The resumption of play brings with it a number of other problems in addition to Jansen’s double task.
For example, Leo Jiménez and Wagner both made their MLB debuts after June 26. But since they appear in the suspended game that will go down in history as having been played on June 26, they will have played in a game before they actually arrived in the majors.
“We’re going in a DeLorean,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider joked recently, referring to the car best known for its time-traveling exploits in the film “Back to the Future.”
This has happened before. The Athletics Jayson Stark recently wrote about how Juan Soto debuted in 2018 before he debuted. “He arrived in the big leagues, with the Washington Nationals, on May 20th. But he later played in a game that was suspended on May 15th — and home run. Which means he debuted before he debuted and also home run before he hit his first home run,” wrote Stark.
Meanwhile, if the Blue Jays turn to their bench, Joey Loperfido could be filed in two spots at once. On June 26, the outfielder was with the Houston Astros, going 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch in a 7-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. If he enters Monday’s suspended game, he will be filed on paper as playing two games on the same day.
The Red Sox are currently third in the American League East at 67-62. The Blue Jays are bottom of the division at 63-68.
This story is being updated.
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(Photo: G Fiume/Getty Images)
