MLB Player Is First to Play for 2 Teams in 1 Game

UPDATE Aug 27, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

Danny Jansen did indeed make baseball history in a bit of an odd way Monday when he played for the Boston Red Sox in the continuation of its game against the Toronto Blue Jays that was delayed due to rain—while Jansen, then a Blue Jay, was himself at bat—back in June. Jansen was then traded from the Blue Jays to the Red Sox, and when the game finally picked back up Monday, the Blue Jays had a pinch hitter finish Jansen's at-bat while the Red Sox had none other than Jansen himself behind the plate as catcher, the Washington Post reports. Thus he became the first MLB player to play for two teams in the same game, an experience he called "cool" and "strange." Toronto went on to win, 4-1.

Aug 20, 2024 7:01 AM CDT

The Boston Red Sox play the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, and catcher Danny Jansen might wind up in the scorecard as having played for both teams in the same game. Not surprisingly, that has never happened before in Major League Baseball history, notes MLB.com. How we got here:

• The rain: Boston and Toronto started a game on June 26, but it was halted because of rain, per the Athletic. Jansen played for Toronto at the time, and he was actually up at bat when the game was called. The league scheduled the game to be resumed on Monday, August 26.
• The trade: In July, Toronto traded Jansen to, yes, Boston. The Blue Jays will have to send up a pinch hitter to resume Jansen's at-bat, and there's a decent chance Jansen will be catching for Boston when that happens. That's because the Red Sox traded their catcher who was playing in the June 26 game, Reese McGuire.

• It's funky: "I don't even know how this works," Jansen told reporters of the potentially historic and strange moment. "That'll be funky, right?" Right. Boston manager Alex Cora will make the decision on whether Jansen will go into the game, notes the New York Post, and he hasn't tipped his hand yet.

(More Major League Baseball stories.)