Will Ferrell’s Dodgers career ended after one batter Thursday with a perfect 0.00 ERA. (Associated Press photo)

PEORIA, Ariz. — Will Ferrell’s entrance into Thursday’s game between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres would have been a spectacle no matter what. When Ferrell cut through the stands wearing a San Francisco Giants uniform — as Yasiel Puig stepped into the batter’s box in the sixth inning — the announced crowd of 10,218 responded with a rousing chorus of boos.

For once, the boos weren’t for Puig. They were for the tall, old guy wearing the uniform of a National League West rival.

In case you’ve managed to ignore the last two days’ worth of baseball news, Ferrell played in five different Cactus League games Thursday. He helicoptered into the Peoria Sports Complex from Camelback Ranch, where he had just strapped on the catcher’s gear for the Giants.

By the time it was over, Ferrell had played a different position for nine different teams in a single day.

For the Dodgers, he pitched.

Austin Barnes was the catcher when Ferrell, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, took the mound to begin the seventh inning. His first few warm-up tosses were so far out of the strike zone, Barnes had to pirouette and use every inch of his wingspan to keep the ball from sailing to the backstop. It appeared that a Christmas miracle from baby Jesus himself would be needed for the script to go according to plan.

The script went like this: Rico Noel would come off the Padres’ bench and get one pitch from Ferrell. He was going to bunt it back to the mound, Ferrell would throw him out (or try to, at least). Then Don Mattingly would emerge from the third-base dugout, signal for a relief pitcher, and take the ball from Ferrell.

Eventually the big guy settled down and threw a few warm-up strikes. Remember that between-innings timer that pitchers were supposed to obey? It went blank when Ferrell warmed up. Noel dug into the box. Ferrell, wearing number 19, looked in for the sign. Here’s what happened next.

Mattingly then did his part, summoning Josh Ravin in from the bullpen. Only Ferrell wouldn’t give up the baseball. He held out his hands palms up in mock surprise, then huffed off the mound. Mattingly couldn’t remember what he said to get the ball from the actor, but he got it eventually. Ferrell walked off the field to change uniforms one last time, the only man in baseball history to be traded eight times in one day. It seemed appropriate that Andrew Friedman and A.J. Preller orchestrated the final deal after all the deals they struck this winter.

Ferrell should have feigned disgust when the stadium scoreboard operator didn’t recognize Noel’s out. Ravin struck out Matt Kemp and Justin Upton — arguably the most impressive feat of the game, though all eyes were on Ferrell in the Dodgers’ dugout — and jogged off the field with two outs showing on the scoreboard. Everyone else on the field jogged toward the dugout, so apparently Ferrell’s 1-3 putout counted after all.

Here’s what Mattingly said about the day’s events after the game:

Junior Gilliam’s number 19 is back safely in retirement now, and spring training can go back to being mundane.