Caitlin McGrath, Jen McCaffrey, Lauren Merola
BOSTON — Under sunny skies Monday afternoon, 112-year-old Fenway Park witnessed more history.
Danny Jansen was at bat for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Boston Red Sox on June 26 with the ball thrown to first base and the count at 0-1 when the skies suddenly opened up and the game was suspended due to inclement weather.
Two months later, games resumed on Monday, but Jansen was playing for the Red Sox, who acquired him in a trade on July 27, opening the door for a player to appear in the same game for both teams.
That possibility became a reality on Monday.
Jansen, who had been replaced as the Red Sox catcher for the game, started as a hitter and settled in behind catcher (Boston's original catcher for the game, Reese McGuire, had been designated for assignment shortly after the team traded for Jansen).
With Jansen playing as catcher, the Blue Jays replaced Jansen with Dalton Varsho during his 0-1 at bat. Varsho fouled off Nick Pivetta's first pitch and struck out swinging on the second. The count was two strikes.(Jansen was supposed to be up to bat, but Varsho was up to bat instead.) After the strikeout, the runner on first ran toward second and Jansen's throw was deflected toward center field, but Will Wagner struck out to end the inning.
“At first, I didn't really think about it,” Jansen said of the possibility of playing on both teams before the game, “but now here I am, it's pretty strange, especially looking back after everything's happened, but I'm grateful for the opportunity and it's going to be a great moment.”
Pinch hitter for Danny Jansen: Dalton Varsho
Current Catcher: Danny Jansen
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/PXnVZvbpml
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 26, 2024
The game, two months in the making, ended with the Blue Jays winning, 4–1. Toronto broke a scoreless tie in the seventh inning with a solo home run by George Springer. The Blue Jays added three more runs in the eighth on doubles by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Berger. The Red Sox's only run came on a solo home run by Jahren Duran in the bottom of the eighth. Jansen finished the game with one hit in four at-bats, but all four of his official at-bats came as a member of the Red Sox.
Before the game, the Red Sox announced a revised lineup, with Jansen batting seventh and Triston Casas batting eighth, with McGwire batting in the original lineup. Pivetta, normally a starter, took the mound in place of Quatter Crawford, who was officially considered a relief pitcher.
Game 1, Red Sox vs. Blue Jays: Duran CF, Hamilton 2B, Abreu RF, Devers 3B, Refsnyder LF, Yoshida DH, Jansen C, Casas 1B, Rafaela SS, Pivetta P
— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) August 26, 2024
The Blue Jays had to replace five players from their original lineup who are no longer available, including players who were traded or shortstop Bo Bichette, who was placed on injured reserve.
The resumption of play has presented several issues beyond Jansen's dual duties.
For example, Leo Jimenez and Wagner both made their MLB debuts after June 26. However, they played in a suspended game that is listed in the record book as having taken place on June 26, and therefore played in a game before coming to the major leagues.
“We're going to be driving around in a DeLorean,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider recently joked, referring to the car best known for traveling back in time in the movie “Back to the Future.”
This has happened before. Athletic Jason Stark recently wrote about Juan Soto’s pre-debut in 2018: “He made his major league appearance with the Washington Nationals on May 20th, but then appeared in a suspended game on May 15th. And hit a home runThat is, he debuted before he debuted, and “I hit a home run before my first one.” Stark wrote.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays benched Joey Loperfido as a defensive replacement late in the game, so he technically played in two positions at the same time. On June 26, the outfielder was with the Houston Astros and went 0-for-3 with one hit and hit by pitch in a 7-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. He played the final two innings in left field, so technically he played in two games on the same day.
The Red Sox finished the season with a 67-63 record, while the Blue Jays finished with a 64-68 record.
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(Photo: G Fiume/Getty Images)
