On June 26, the 29-year-old player was batting for the Toronto Blue Jays when their game against the Boston Red Sox was suspended due to rain. A month later, on July 27, Jansen was traded to the Red Sox. When the game resumed on a Monday, Jansen found himself in a unique position, now playing for his new team against his former one.
Reflecting on the situation before the game restarted, Jansen remarked, “I’m just going to put my head down and play. It’s definitely a cool thing.” While it’s not uncommon in Major League Baseball for new signings to appear in suspended games, this scenario was particularly rare because Jansen was now facing his former team.
In a twist of fate, Jansen had been at the plate for the Blue Jays when the game was halted two months earlier. As the game resumed, his former team had to substitute him with pinch-hitter Daulton Varsho, while Jansen, now wearing the Red Sox uniform, took his position as catcher at Fenway Park.
The Blue Jays ultimately won the game 4-1, but Jansen made history by appearing in the box score and lineup for both teams in the same game. After the match, he described the experience to MLB.com as “strange,” noting that he never imagined finding himself in such an unusual situation. He added that he assumed something like this would have happened before, highlighting the uniqueness of the event.
