Red Sox Catcher Makes History as First to Play on Both Teams in One Game

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 Boston's historic Fenway Park under sunny skies.

The Blue Jays won the game 4-1. On the official scorecard, Jansen first had a one-pitch at bat for Toronto and then 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.”

Jansen is now the backup catcher on the Red Sox. He made his debut in the major leagues in 2018 with Toronto and has a career batting average of .222 with 73 home runs and 219 RBI.

Jansen’s improbable double play began on June 26 with the Blue Jays when he fouled off one pitch in the second inning against the Red Sox as the rain began to fall. The game was suspended. One month later, on July 27, Jansen was sent packing to Boston in a deadline trade.

And that’s when baseball fans and trivia buffs realized that 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.

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 and money to be made, a memorabilia authenticator made sure to tag all of Jansen’s equipment. Jansen wore two Red Sox Jerseys in the game: one to keep and the other to send to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, which also requested the official scorecard for the record books.