Raymond William Jansen (born January 16, 1889 – March 19, 1934), was an American professional baseball player who played third base in the Major Leagues in 1910 for the St. Louis Browns.

Ray Jansen
Third baseman
Born: (1889-01-16)January 16, 1889
St. Louis, Missouri
Died: March 19, 1934(1934-03-19) (aged 45)
St. Louis, Missouri
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 30, 1910, for the St. Louis Browns
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1910, for the St. Louis Browns
MLB statistics
Batting average.800
Home runs0
Runs batted in0
Teams

He was born and died in St. Louis, Missouri.

Ray Jansen had a very short (one game) but unique career in Major League Baseball. On September 30, 1910, with only eight games remaining in the Browns' season, the club—55 games out of first place—called on Jansen to play third base. Although the 21-year-old local boy had never played a professional game in his life,[1] Jansen notched four singles in five at-bats. In the field he was less impressive, with three errors in ten total chances. The Browns lost the game to the Chicago White Sox, 9–1, and Jansen never played in the majors again. Jansen's four hits still is the record for the most hits in a one-game MLB career.[2]

Jansen played for Class D Keokuk, Iowa in 1911 and stayed in the minors until 1918, making it up to Class A (then one step below the majors) Southern Association, but never made it back to the big leagues.

References

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  1. ^ Jansen is also listed as having been with the Paragould, Arkansas Scouts of the Class D Northeast Arkansas League in 1910, but no statistics are available
  2. ^ Mackin, Bob, "The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records", Greystone Books, 2004.
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