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Red Sox’ Danny Jansen makes history playing for 2 different teams in same game
"I was surprised when I found out I was the first one to do it. It's cool."
Red Sox fans might want to save their scorecards if they attended the first leg of Boston’s doubleheader matchup against the Blue Jays on Monday.
Because for the first time in baseball’s lengthy history, a player technically played for two different teams during Monday’s contest at Fenway Park.
Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen served as both the hitter and catcher in the same at-bat in a resumption of a June 26 rain-delayed game.
Back when that June game was stopped between the Red Sox and Blue Jays, Jansen — then playing for Toronto — was up at the plate against Boston starter Kutter Crawford in the second inning.
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On July 27, Jansen was traded to the Red Sox for three minor leaguers, causing a conundrum as to who would step up to the plate for Toronto when that rain-delayed game resumed.
Ultimately, the Blue Jays pinch-hit Dalton Varsho in place of Jansen to open Monday’s game, with Jansen replacing Reese McGuire behind the plate for Boston and technically catching his own at-bat.
Ultimately, the two-month wait for Jansen and the Red Sox did not end with a win for the home team. Boston dropped Game 1 of the doubleheader to Toronto, 4-1.
Jansen — who noted postgame that he will give his jersey and a lineup card to the National Baseball Hall of Fame — went 1-for-4 at the plate, collecting Boston’s first hit of the afternoon before striking out to end the game.
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“I guess it hasn’t fully hit me yet,” Jansen noted on NESN’s postgame coverage, as transcribed by NESN’s Tim Crowley. “I’ll tell you what, I was surprised when I found out I was the first one to do it. It’s cool. Leaving a stamp on the game is interesting. It’s strange. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have that.”
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