Or, the [relatively] rare:
271 players who played for 3+ teams in a single season (yes, + as some players enjoyed the good graces of front offices and fans for 4 teams in a single season. Guys like:
- Oswaldo Arcia: 2016
- Wes Covington: 1961
- Oliver Drake: 2018
- Mike Ford: 2022
- Ted Gray: 1955
- Willis Hudlin: 1940
- Mike Kilkenny: 1972
- Dave Kingman, The Grand Sultan of Swat: 1977 (442 career HRs). It's amazing that he went on to play another 9 years after being bounced around that year, his age 28 season.
- Paul Lehner: 1951
- Dave Martinez: 2000
- John MacDonald: 2013 with a penultimate stop on Boston
- Aldalberto Mejia: 2019, with the distinct pleasure of rekindling friendships with teammates from a previous visit earlier in the season with LAA, which I guess means he technically was with only 3 teams that year)
- Dan Miceli: 2005
- Or, even closer to home, Yu Chang, after having been with PIT, CLE, and TBR before joining the Red Sox in the 2022 season. He's currently on the 2023 Red Sox IL, having last played on 4/20/23, going 1-for-4 with a HR in a home win vs. the Twins.
Or, perhaps the most chameleon-like player,
Bob Miller, who played for 3 different teams in 3 different seasons. 1970, 1971, and 1973
Tragically, one of the 3-team players was Joe Kennedy, the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher who died in 2007 at the age of 28 of hypertensive heart disease.
It's interesting how many of these guys (ALOT) started in, passed through, or ended their careers in Boston. Going through that list was a real time-travel trip for me, seeing the summary of who was included in the trades. I mean, some of these could clearly have been considered blockbuster, with some of these players included only as filler. Many including only journey players, but some very notable exceptions, often at the very beginning or end of a career, Dave Kingman being a notable outlier.
But the ding, ding, ding, ding winner is Frank Huelsman, who kept a suitcase packed at all time 'cause he never knew where in the world Carmen San Diego might see him next. 5 teams in 1904, but that was a very different era.