Catcher Danny Jansen made history Monday afternoon at Fenway Park. Jansen, currently a member of the Boston Red Sox, became the first player ever to play for both teams in the same game when the Red Sox resumed their suspended game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Jansen hit seventh for the Red Sox and caught, going 1 for 4 with a single.
“Let’s make history,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday (via Boston Herald).
Monday’s game was the resumption of the June 26 game suspended due to rain in the top of the second inning. Jansen started the game behind the plate for the Blue Jays, his longtime team. He was traded to the Red Sox at the deadline and replaced Reese McGuire on the team’s roster. McGuire started the June 26 game behind the plate for the Red Sox.
Both rosters have changed since June 26, obviously, and both teams will have to replace every player in the original lineup who is no longer with the team. The Red Sox had to substitute a new catcher in for McGuire, paving the way for Jansen to step into the lineup and play for both Boston and Toronto in the same game.
“What an oddity, right?” Jansen said on Sportsnet’s Blair & Barker podcast last week. “What a crazy, crazy thing for baseball this game. People have been asking me and coming up to me to talk about it and stuff, so it’s going to be a cool one.”
Suspended games aren’t uncommon. There are a handful every season, and oftentimes, players in the original lineups have to be replaced for whatever reason (trade, injury, etc.). Never before have things aligned in such a way that one player could play for both teams in the same game, though. At least not until Jansen with this game.
Here’s what you need to know about the suspended game and Jansen’s situation.
This is within the rules
To be clear, Jansen playing for both the Blue Jays and Red Sox in the same game is within the rules. The Red Sox aren’t stepping outside the rules nor is this some half-baked idea that sounds cool but isn’t actually legal. MLB Rule 7.02(h) covers substitutions for suspended games. Emphasis mine:
A suspended game shall be resumed at the exact point of suspension of the original game. The completion of a suspended game is a continuation of the original game. The lineup and batting order of both teams shall be exactly the same as the lineup and batting order at the moment of suspension, subject to the rules governing substitution. Any player may be replaced by a player who had not been in the game prior to the suspension. No player removed before the suspension may be returned to the lineup. A player who was not with the Club when the game was suspended may be used as a substitute, even if he has taken the place of a player no longer with the Club who would not have been eligible because he had been removed from the lineup before the game was suspended.
The rule is clear. Because Jansen was not with the Red Sox when the game was originally suspended on June 26, he was eligible to be substituted into the game when it resumed Monday. It does not matter that he was in the opposing team’s lineup. Jansen playing for both the Blue Jays and Red Sox in this game is completely by the book.
Jansen was at the plate
It gets weirder: Jansen was in the batter’s box taking his first at-bat of the day when the game was suspended. He fouled away a Kutter Crawford first pitch cutter, then the umpires called for the tarp, and the game was unable to be resumed that day. Here is the final pitch that was thrown on June 26:
When the game resumed Monday, the Blue Jays had a runner, Davis Schneider, at first base with one out in the top of the second inning, and Daulton Varsho, who replaced Jansen in Toronto’s lineup, inherited his 0-1 count. Varsho struck out on two foul balls and a swinging strike.
As is always the case in these situations, the Blue Jays and Red Sox were allowed to use their entire current roster when the suspended game resumed. Limiting each team to the players they had on the roster the day the game was suspended would be a logistical nightmare, especially with a two-month layoff.
Jansen isn’t the only player Toronto had to replace
The Blue Jays had to substitute more than half their starting lineup Monday. They traded away several veterans at the July 30 deadline and four players from their original lineup are no longer in the organization. Add in an injury, and five players from that June 26 lineup were unavailable Monday.
Here was the lineup for the Blue Jays and manager John Schneider when the game first started:
- SS Bo Bichette (on injured list with calf strain)
- 2B Spencer Horwitz
- 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- DH Justin Turner (traded to Seattle Mariners at the deadline)
- RF George Springer
- LF Davis Schneider
- C Danny Jansen (traded to Red Sox at the deadline)
- 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa (traded to Pittsburgh Pirates at the deadline)
- CF Kevin Kiermaier (traded to Los Angeles Dodgers at the deadline)
And here was the lineup when it resumed Monday:
1. C Brian Serven
2. 1B Spencer Horwitz
3. 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
4. DH Addison Barger
5. RF George Springer
6. LF Davis Schneider
7. …
The Red Sox also had to make some substitutions during the game. Here is the lineup they used in the original game on June 26:
1. CF Jarren Duran
2. SS David Hamilton
3. RF Wilyer Abreu
4. 3B Rafael Devers
5. LF Rob Refsnyder
6. DH Masataka Yoshida
7. 2B Enmanuel Valdez
8. 1B Dominic Smith
9. C Reese McGuire
And in a more recent game, the Red Sox lineup looked like this:
1. CF Jarren Duran
2. 2B David Hamilton
3. RF Wilyer Abreu
4. 3B Rafael Devers
5. LF Rob Refsnyder
6. DH Masataka Yoshida
7. C Danny Jansen
8. 1B Triston Casas
9. SS Ceddanne Rafaela
Interestingly, history was made in a recent game when Danny Jansen played for both the Blue Jays and the Red Sox in the same game. This rare occurrence adds to the quirky moments that have happened in baseball over the years. rewrite the sentence:
“The dog ran quickly through the park.”
“The dog sprinted through the park with speed.”