A piece of MLB history could be at stake next Monday when the Red Sox and Blue finish a game that began on June 26 and had to be suspended due to weather.
The fact that a game has to be restarted because of the weather is nothing earth-shattering, but the possibility of Danny Jansen ending up on the scoresheet for both teams would be a first in the Major League.
Jansen was originally playing catcher for the Blue Jays and was at bat when rain forced a stoppage in play between the Sox and Jays at Fenway Park nearly two months ago.
While a date had been set for the game to be completed, Jenson was traded to the Red Sox at the trade deadline late last month, creating the possibility of a rare event next week when the two teams pick up where they left off.
“Oh man,” Jansen told The Athletic. “This is going to be crazy.”
When play resumes next Monday, Jensen will technically be at bat in the scoreless game, meaning the Blue Jays will need a pinch hitter for Jansen.
Things could get “crazy” if Red Sox manager Alex Cora decides to put Jansen in the game, which is possible since Boston’s June 26 catcher Reese McGuire is now back in Triple-A.
This oddity in baseball is made possible by the MLB’s stoppage rule, which allows a player who was not with the team at the time the game was stopped to be used as a substitute.
Jansen admitted to The Athletic that he was unfamiliar with the potential story that awaited him when he first arrived in Boston after the trade.
“I didn’t know much about it at first,” Jansen said. “I was like, ‘What — do I have to go to the other team?’ I didn’t know what was going to happen. The whole situation just kind of blindsided me. Because when I got traded, it was a whirlwind at first and I didn’t think about it. But then when it died down, I heard about (the interrupted game scenario). And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. That’s something unique that’s going to happen.'”
The catcher has achieved a batting average of .286 in 11 games with the Red Sox since the transfer.
