He started the at-bat for Toronto — then caught it for Boston
On August 26, 2024, Danny Jansen became the first major leaguer to appear for both teams in one game after a rain delay, a trade, and a Fenway lineup flip.
On August 26, 2024, Fenway Park's press box heard one of the stranger lineup changes in baseball history: pinch-hitting for Danny Jansen, Daulton Varsho; defensive change, Danny Jansen now at catcher. The same man left the Toronto Blue Jays half of a suspended game and immediately entered it for the Boston Red Sox. 12
Rain, a trade, and one unfinished at-bat
The game had started on June 26, 2024, Blue Jays at Red Sox. Jansen, then Toronto's catcher and batting seventh, was at the plate in the top of the second with an 0-1 count, one out, and Davis Schneider on first when rain stopped play. The contest was suspended and set to resume on August 26 as the front end of a split doubleheader. 12
On July 27, Toronto traded Jansen to Boston for three minor leaguers. Boston's original catcher that night, Reese McGuire, was designated for assignment soon after. Rule 7.02(h) lets teams use players who were not on the roster when a suspended game began, so when August 26 arrived, Red Sox manager Alex Cora put Jansen behind the plate. "Let's make history," Cora told reporters. 12
Catching the at-bat he started
When play resumed at 2:06 p.m. ET—a delay of 65 days, 18 hours, and 35 minutes—Jansen was still the batter of record for Toronto. The Blue Jays sent up Varsho as a pinch-hitter. Jansen crouched for Boston. Nick Pivetta struck Varsho out to finish the plate appearance Jansen had begun in June. In the bottom of the same inning, Jansen lined out to first for the Red Sox. 134
Because the count had been only 0-1 when the rain came, Varsho received the statistical credit for the strikeout. Jansen finished 1-for-4 for Boston, with a fifth-inning single that was the Red Sox' first hit of the resumed game, and struck out swinging to end the ninth. Toronto won 4–1. Jansen wore two jerseys that afternoon—three if the June Toronto shirt counts—and the Baseball Hall of Fame requested the official scorecard so his name would sit on both sides of one box score. 13
MLB and contemporary game reports treated him as the first major leaguer ever to appear for both teams in the same contest. A minor-league cousin had already happened: Dale Holman played for both Syracuse and Richmond in one Triple-A game in 1986. 12
The shareable version is simple: on August 26, 2024, a catcher finished one team's at-bat as the other team's catcher—and put his name on both sides of a major-league box score.
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