Baseball is such a weird sport. But when 10,000 professional games are played across 9 months every year, the oddities become inevitable and almost normalized. A few nights ago J.T. Ginn of the Athletics threw 8 innings of no-hit ball against the MLB's worst team out in Anaheim only to start the 9th inning by allowing two hits with the second clearing the outfield wall, giving the Angels a win in walk-off fashion. A baseball oddity no doubt, but hardly in the top 500 weirdest things to happen in baseball history.
The trade completed between the Washington Wild Things and Ottawa Titans last night qualifies. This particular oddity has not become normalized and is more rare in Major League Baseball than a 27 up, 27 down Perfect Game.
Anderson had finished 2025 with a few solid outings for the Wild Things, punching the tickets of four batters in three appearances while allowing just one run. But business is business and Anderson was headed back to the land of maples and mounties where he spent two college summers spinning the seams in Saskatchewan.
One can only imagine Colt was already a bit culture shocked moving from his hometown in suburban Tulsa with fewer than 6,000 residents to the big city of Washington, PA (pop. 13,000). Now picture that ole cowboy sporting his boots and spurs in downtown Ottawa, population...1 million.
Terrifying.
Luckily for Colt Anderson (siiiiiiick baseball name btw), his long-stay AirBNB in Washington hasn't been rebooked yet. Why?
Nope, not a typo, not a different guy. Colt Anderson of Verdigris, OK, History Major and 2024 All-MIAA Honorable Mention at Rogers State, was traded for Colt Anderson of Verdigris, OK, History Major and 2024 All-MIAA Honorable Mention at Rogers State.
In the history of Major League Baseball, which dates back 150 years to the National League's founding in 1876, TWO of the approximately 23,000 players to appear in an MLB game have been traded for themself.
There have really been four instances of this type of occurrence but in Harry Chiti (1962) and Dickie Noles' (1987) cases, teams couldn't come to a final trade agreement and those players were thrust back upon their original sellers.
In November 1980 (Anno Domini), the Yankees shipped off reserve catcher Brad Gulden cross country to Puget Sound where he'd appear in 8 games for the Mariners before packing his bags and heading back to the Bronx in May of 1981 (Anno Domini).
The last MLB player to have been traded for himself was infielder John McDonlad of East Lyme, CT (the place Lyme Disease is named after). In July 2005 (Anno Domini) McDonald was on the trade block just seven months after the Blue Jays had acquired him from Cleveland and was sent to Detroit in exchange for a Player To Be Named Later (PTBNL). Three and a half months later, McDonald was that Player To Be Named Later (PTBNL).
"Johnny Mac" as he was dubbed by Blue Jays fan, quickly became Canada's second favorite McDonald behind Norman due to his defense and willingness to lay his body on the line. A "humm baby" in his own right, Johnny Mac rarely left the field with an untainted uniform and was voted the most popular Blue Jay by fans ahead of the 2007 season, beating out 4x All-Star and Cy Young winning ace Roy Halladay.
Don't it always seem to go, that you've don't know what you got 'til it's gone? Well that's why you always make sure to call "tradsies backsies" before hanging up the phone with another GM.
