BOSTON — Until someone duplicates what he did Monday afternoon, Danny Jansen will be the answer to a trivia question: Who is the only major league player to play for both teams in the same game?
There are worse things for which someone can be known.
Jansen made history, the result of the start of the game being suspended on June 26, a month before he was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays and two months before he finished the completion of the game in the uniform of the Red Sox.
“I took a moment before the game when I was out there,” said Jansen after the Red Sox had dropped a 4-1 decision to his former team. “I had my wife, kids and some family in town as well, so it was cool to experience that with them and have them there. Once the game started, I was just kind of locked into the game and didn’t think about it much. But I took a moment to enjoy it before the game.”
When Jansen came out of the home dugout and jogged to his position behind the plate, he looked out to see the center field scoreboard setting the stage. A picture of him, in his Toronto uniform, was in place as the next hitter due, with the matchup against now teammate Kutter Crawford, who had been Boston’s starter on June 26.
“I saw myself up there, for sure,’’ he said. “That was just kind of like, ‘Well, that’s where we’re at. That’s the starting point of the game.’ That was cool.”
From there, he took his spot behind the plate while the Blue Jays sent up Daulton Varsho as a pinch-hitter to complete the at-bat interrupted by rain some two months ago.
“Once Varsho subbed in for me then it was just kind of like, ‘Game on,’ ‘‘ said Jansen. “I guess maybe building up to that point, it was strange. Once he stepped into the box, I was just trying to stay present and get locked into the game.”
Jansen has been answering questions about the historical oddity for several days now, but acknowledged after the game that the magnitude of the event “hasn’t fully hit me yet. I‘ll tell you what, I was surprised when I found out I was the first one to do it, a little bit. It’s cool. Leaving a stamp like that on the game, it’s interesting and it’s strange. And I’m pretty grateful to have that. At the end of the day, it’s a cool thing.”
Over the course of the game, Jansen changed jerseys once and handed one over to the MLB official in charge of authenticating game-used equipment. One will be given to the Hall of Fame. He’s unsure of what he’ll do with the other.
“I really haven’t figured that one out,” he said, “but that’s a pretty cool thing, too.”
“It was a very cool moment, to be part of it,” echoed manager Alex Cora. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen (again). It has to be like the perfect storm for that to happen, starting with the storm. I’m glad that everyone enjoyed it.”
