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USA/Monday’s suspended game between the Blue Jays and Red Sox going ahead was historic.
On June 26, the Blue Jays sent center fielder Daulton Varshoa to the plate to relieve Danny Jansen when the game was suspended due to rain in the top of the second inning with the score at 0-1. Varshoa fouled out on Nick Pivetta’s first pitch and struck out.
Meanwhile, Jansen was replaced in Toronto’s lineup, with Red Sox manager Alex Cora moving Jansen behind the plate. At bat in the bottom of the inning, Jansen pitched out to first baseman Spencer Horwitz.
You may be interested in: Is that it? One player will play for two teams in one major league game
How about it?
On July 27, Jansen was traded to the Redlegs in exchange for three rookies.
The player Jansen replaced on Boston’s roster — Reese McGuire, now with Triple-A Worcester — was behind the plate when play was stopped on June 26.
All of this led to Jansen becoming the first player in MLB history to play in the same game for two teams.
“When I got traded, I didn’t really think about it, but I remember seeing a tweet that was probably sent to me early on,” Jansen said. “It’s been getting a lot of attention over the last few weeks, just in the media and things like that. I think a few weeks ago, I saw it was definitely a possibility. When (Cora) announced that I was going to be the catcher in this game, and then it really became a reality, I started thinking about it.”
As you can imagine, Jensen has been getting a lot of text messages in recent days.
“Everyone keeps saying history is being made,” Janssen revealed, “and that’s a very strange thing. I never imagined myself being in a situation where history is being made. I guess I would think it’s happened before. That was one of the first thoughts that went through my mind.”
The official score or lineup card is probably framed somewhere in Jensen’s home.
“Of course, I’ll take a look at it since it’s the first time. I’ve never been a big fan of Boxscore, but it will be nice to see,” Mask said.
You might see an artifact or two from Jansen’s historic accomplishments at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
“I haven’t spoken to them directly, but I think there might be something related to validating something, and I’ve talked to some validators about the possibility of sending something, so that’s pretty cool,” the curious protagonist continued in the story.
Cora is enjoying the historical significance of his roster moves.
“Jason Stark (of The Athletic) and (Buster Olney of ESPN) sent me a lot of text messages last week, and I was wondering what was going on,” the Puerto Rican driver said. “They were messaging me to say hi, but they talked about the history of the sport and explained it to me, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a big deal.’”
However, if Connor Wong is on the field in McGuire’s place during the suspension, Cora will likely have to play Jansen in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader.
The fact that Janssen was doing something historic distracted from the fact that it was his first time against the team he had spent his entire career with. Janssen was selected by the Blue Jays in the 16th round of the 2013 draft and made his debut with Toronto in 2018.
While Jansen is the first to pitch for two teams in the same game at the major league level, there has been at least one other instance of this happening in the minor leagues.
In 1986, Dale Holman played in the same Triple-A game for the Syracuse Chiefs and the Richmond Braves.
Holman was at Syracuse University (then the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate) when the challenge began in June. Play was suspended due to rain, and by the time play resumed on August 16, the outfielder had been released by Toronto and signed with the Braves. Holman started in Double-A Atlanta but was promoted to Triple-A in time for play to resume.
Holman went 1-1 against Syracuse when the game started, and 2-2 against Richmond when it resumed. Overall, he was 3-for-3 in the Challenge…with both teams getting hits.
Information from Ian Brown (MLB.com)
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