BOSTON (AP) — Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen is enjoying his strange piece of baseball history and preparing to become the first major league player to play for both teams in the same game.
Jansen was on the Toronto Blue Jays squad when they met Boston on June 26a game that was interrupted due to rain and was to be rescheduled for Monday. In the meantime he was transferred to Bostonand Red Sox manager Alex Cora has said he will put Jansen in the lineup when play resumes.
“Baseball has been around for so long, so much has happened in this game, so I was surprised when I found out I was the first,” Jansen said this weekend in the Red Sox clubhouse. “Any time you can be part of the history of this great game, it’s pretty unique.”
Jansen, a right-handed catcher who spent his career as a relief player, has never gotten enough batting appearances to even qualify for a batting title (though his .222 lifetime average is certainly the bigger obstacle). Since the Red Sox signed him for three minor league players on July 27, he has a .231 batting average with two home runs and five RBIs in 14 games.
But he could already be on his way to the Hall of Fame – even if only as a footnote – because an authenticator is expected to be on site on Monday to obtain an artifact from the historic game for the museum.
“It’s a little weird,” Jansen said. “But it’s one of those oddities of the game and it’s pretty cool. I’m still surprised it didn’t happen, but it’s a cool thing.”
Jansen was at bat with a runner on first base and a strike in the game when umpires called the tarps in Boston’s series finale against the Blue Jays in June. Play will resume at that point as part of a day-night doubleheader on Monday afternoon, Toronto’s first trip back to Fenway Park since then.
The Blue Jays will have to use Jansen as a relief hitter for now. The Red Sox will also have to replace Reese McGuire, who started at catcher for them on June 26; he was sent to Triple-A Worcester to make room for Jansen.
Cora has already said he will use Jansen in the first game of the doubleheader.
“He’s going to play in Game 1, by the way, for anyone who’s watched history,” the Red Sox manager said Friday. “You know what? Yes, he’s a catcher. Let’s make history.”
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