Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen is enjoying his odd slice of baseball history as he prepares to become the first major league player to appear in the same game for both teams.
Jansen was in the lineup for the Toronto Blue Jays when they faced Boston on June 26, a game that was suspended because of rain and scheduled to be made up on Monday. In the meantime, he was traded to Boston, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora has said he will put Jansen in the lineup when the game resumes.
“Baseball has been around for so long, there’s so many things that’s happened in the game. So I was surprised when I found out I was the first,” Jansen said in the Red Sox clubhouse this weekend. “Any time you can be a part of this great game’s history, it’s pretty unique.”
A right-handed catcher who has spent his career as a backup, Jansen has never gotten enough plate appearances to even qualify for a batting title (though his .222 lifetime average is surely the bigger obstacle). Since the Red Sox acquired him on July 27 for three minor leaguers, he is batting .231 with two homers and five RBIs in 14 games.
But he could be on his way to the Hall of Fame — if only as a footnote — with an authenticator expected to be on hand on Monday to grab an artifact for the museum from the historic game.