There have been 238,500 games in Major League Baseball’s 154-year history—and on Monday afternoon, for the first time ever, one player appeared in the same game for both teams.
This feat required severe weather, postponement of the game, a deadline trade and a two-month interlude. But catcher Danny Jansen made history as the first player to show up in the lineup for both teams—the Blue Jays and Red Sox—playing in the same game and even the same inning.
“Oh, man,” Jansen, 29, told The Athletic last week. “It’s going to be nuts.”
It was indeed nuts at historic Fenway Park in Boston under sunny skies.
The Blue Jays won the game 4-1. On the official scorecard, Jansen had a one-pitch at bat for Toronto and went 1 for 4 at the plate for Boston. He began the game 65 days ago on the winning team and ended the game on the losing team.
“I was surprised when I found out I was the first one to do it,” Jansen told reporters after the game, according to ESPN. “It’s cool, leaving a stamp like that on the game. It’s interesting, and it’s strange. And I’m grateful for the opportunity to have that.”
Danny Jansen of the Boston Red Sox on Monday became the first player in MLB history to play on both teams in a single game.
Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
The improbable story began on June 26 when Jansen, playing for Toronto, fouled off one pitch in the second inning before the rain began to fall. The game was suspended. One month later, on July 27, Jansen was sent packing to Boston.
And that’s when everyone realized something extremely unusual could happen when the game resumed. Red Sox Manager Alex Cora was happy to go along for the ride.
“Let’s make history,” Cora said, announcing that he would play Jansen when the teams picked up where they left off.
Danny Jansen of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
At home plate on Monday before the first pitch, the umpires met with the managers who presented their historic lineup cards featuring Jansen on both teams.
“It was a very cool moment, just to be part of it,” Cora said, according to ESPN. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen again. It has to be kind of like the perfect storm for that to happen—starting with the storm. And I’m glad that everybody enjoyed it.”
Of course, with baseball history in the making, a memorabilia authenticator made sure to tag all of Jansen’s equipment. And the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown requested the scorecard for the record books.
