At long last, baseball got its Max Muncy moment.
On Monday night in West Sacramento, the Athletics’ Max Muncy and the Dodgers’ Max Muncy were both in the same spot in the lineup - batting seventh - and both were at third base when the A’s hosted the Dodgers at Sutter Health Park. For the first time in the majors, two players with the same name, the same position and the same lineup slot were on opposite sides of the field.
It’s a rare piece of baseball history. Since 1901, it has happened only twice before, and both times came in the same June 2000 series between the Blue Jays and Marlins, when Alex Gonzalez and Álex González matched up while batting seventh and starting at shortstop.
The two Max Muncys share more than a name. They were born on Aug. 25, exactly 12 years apart, and are not related. The younger Muncy’s connection to the older one goes back to childhood, when his grandparents started pointing out the other Max Muncy’s career around the time he was 8 years old.
“When he was in college at Baylor, my grandparents found him and they’re like, ‘Oh, there’s another baseball player,’” Muncy said last week on A’s Cast. “I knew when he got drafted.
I knew when he was with the A’s. I knew when they let him go and the Dodgers picked him up.
All the transactions, I had known because every time I went over to my grandparents’ house they would keep me updated.”
The A’s Muncy had thought he might finally get the matchup last May, when Oakland visited Dodger Stadium after he had made the A’s Opening Day roster in 2025. But that chance disappeared when he went on the injured list just before the three-game series.
Monday’s game was their first meeting in the big leagues, but it wasn’t the first time they’d shared a professional stage. That came in August 2024, when the A’s Muncy was with Triple-A Las Vegas and the Dodgers’ Muncy was rehabbing with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
That night belonged to the younger Muncy, who finished with four hits and two doubles. The two also took a photo together before the game, then crossed paths again later at a nearby restaurant.
“He kind of did more of the talking,” the younger Muncy said. “I was like, ‘Nice to meet you.
Glad we finally did this.’ He just kind of was like, ‘Hey man, you’ve had a great start to your career.
You’re doing good stuff. I wish you the best.’
It was kind of just mutual. … We’re somehow attached in some way.
It feels like there’s an attachment. This was before I debuted.
He was like, ‘Man, I hope you make it up. Good luck.’”
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