Major League Baseball catcher plays for two teams in same match

Danny Jansen was traded from Toronto Blue Jays to Boston Red Sox while game was suspended due to heavy rain

Danny Jansen has made baseball history by becoming the first major-league player to play for two teams in the same match – and in the same inning.
The catcher took to the field for Boston Red Sox on Monday for the resumption of a rain-affected game that he began with Toronto Blue Jays in June.
Heavy showers stopped play at Fenway Park in the second inning of the match in June.
By the time play resumed in the rescheduled match on Monday – 65 days after it began – Jansen was in the other dugout, having been traded to Boston last month.
Jansen saw only one pitch of that game in June, fouling off a pitch from Kutter Crawford in the second inning before the heavens opened.
On Monday, pinch hitter Dalton Varsho took Jansen’s place for the Blue Jays at home plate to finish the at-bat – with Jansen squatting behind him as the Red Sox catcher.
Jansen then came up to bat for Boston with two outs in the bottom half of the second inning and enjoyed a warm cheer from the crowd.
The 29-year-old quickly hit a liner to first base and the inning was over – but baseball history was made.
The first player in @MLB HISTORY to play for both teams in the same game: Danny Jansen 👓 pic.twitter.com/rQHjp5dZyn
An official was on hand to tag all of Jansen’s equipment, and the Baseball Hall of Fame said it had requested the scorecard from official scorer Bob Ellis, who was also working at the game when it started in June.
When the ballpark opened to fans on Monday, the scoreboards showed Jansen at bat for the Blue Jays – complete with a picture of him in his Toronto cap.
Jansen is actually a backup catcher to No 1 Connor Wong, but the Red Sox staff saw an opportunity to do something that had never before happened in a century and a half of baseball.
Manager Alex Cora threw Jansen into the line-up, saying, “Let’s make history.”
It is not unusual for players to be traded between matches and end up playing for two teams in the same series.
Jansen said he was surprised it had never happened before but embraced his spot in the sport’s lore.
“Any time you can be a part of this great game’s history, it’s pretty unique,” he said.