Max Muncy had a pretty unusual night at Sutter Health Park, and it started before the first pitch even settled in. The Dodgers and Athletics each rolled out a Max Muncy at third base, both batting seventh, creating one of those baseball oddities that feels almost too neat to be real.
There was more to the symmetry than just the name on the lineup card. Both players were originally drafted by the A’s, and both were born on Aug.
- The only catch is the 12-year gap: the Dodgers’ Max Muncy was born in 1990, while the A’s Max Muncy was born in 2002.
For the veteran Dodgers third baseman, the whole thing came with a dose of surreal humor.
“It’s definitely weird standing at third, hearing your name called, and it’s not you,” the more senior Muncy told Kirsten Watson on SportsNet LA. “And then playing here, everyone is chanting, ‘Let’s go Max!’
and it’s not you. So it’s a little strange, but it’s still cool.
We’re definitely not in the Matrix or anything, but yeah.”
According to MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs, it was only the fourth time since 1900 that players with the same name started at the same position and in the same spot in the batting order. The earlier cases were Bobby Jones of the Mets and Bobby Jones of the Rockies on May 11, 1999, plus Alex González of the Blue Jays and Alex González of the Marlins on June 2 and June 4, 2000.
The Dodgers’ Muncy made sure the strange setup didn’t distract him from producing. He went 2-for-5 with a home run, one run scored and two RBI, and he drove in the game’s first run with a single. The younger Muncy finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk, and his hit was a single off the third base bag in the direction of the Dodgers’ Muncy.
The two Max Muncys had already seen each other before in a Minor League game last year, when the Dodgers sent their third baseman out on a rehab assignment.
For the Dodgers’ Muncy, the matchup also carried a little extra familiarity because his MLB debut came with the A’s in 2015. Across parts of two seasons in Oakland, he hit .195/.290/.321 with five home runs, 17 RBI and 27 runs scored.
“It’s always weird,” Muncy said of playing the A’s. “Obviously I was a different person back then and a lot has changed.
“There’s no hard feelings there; I say it all the time. I wish it could be one of those things where you feel like you want to stick it to the team, but it’s not like that. But it’s still weird.”
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