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Danny Jansen is set to make MLB history by playing on both teams in the same game

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Danny Jansen is set to make MLB history by playing on both teams in the same game

The Boston Red Sox’s Danny Jansen celebrates after hitting an RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park, on Aug. 14 in Boston.

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Charles Krupa/AP

No matter how the next Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox game plays out, Danny Jansen will be able to call himself a winner.

That’s because on Monday, the Red Sox catcher will be finishing a game that he started as a player on the opposing team. In doing so, Jansen will go down in Major League Baseball history as the first person to play for both teams in the same game.

The peculiar switch-up was set in motion when a game on June 26 was suspended during the second inning because of heavy rain at Boston’s Fenway Park. At the time, Jansen played for Toronto. A month later, Jansen was traded to the Red Sox, with the team hoping to both make use of his right-handed bat and strengthen its catching lineup.

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Before the game was halted, Jansen was at bat for the Blue Jays. Two months later, play will resume — this time, with Jansen behind the plate and in a Red Sox jersey. The Jays will have a pinch hitter in Jansen’s place.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora reportedly confirmed on Friday that Jansen would be part of the starting lineup, replacing catcher Reese McGuire.

“Yeah he’s catching. Let’s make history,” Cora told reporters.

According to MLB.com, it would be a first for a player at the Major League level, but there’s at least one instance of a player appearing on both teams in the same game in the minor leagues. In 1986, Dale Holman played for both the Syracuse Chiefs and the Richmond Braves in a game broken up by rain.

In an interview with The Athletic published last this week, Jansen said the potential to make history “would be awesome.”

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“It’s a cool thing to be part of something that lives on and is just a rarity,” he said. “I try to be in the moment as much as possible. But one day, if this happens … it’s going to be a cool thing to look back on.”

The oddity of the scenario has inspired baseball fans to muse about the wild, “only in baseball” possibilities of the game.

“The Danny jansen thing makes me remember one of my favourite baseball quirks: it is technically possible to strike yourself out,” wrote one user on X.

When the game resumes, the pinch hitter taking Jansen’s place will inherit Jansen’s one strike on the count. If the pinch hitter goes on to strike out, Jansen was relieved to know, that strikeout won’t show up in his stats, according to The Athletic. The pinch hitter taking Jansen’s place will own whatever happens when the at-bat resumes on Monday afternoon.

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Video: The Counties Where Trump Made Gains

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Video: The Counties Where Trump Made Gains

We look at “triple-trending counties,” where either the Republicans or the Democrats gained vote share in all of the last three presidential elections. Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The New York Times, shows that President Trump has gained ground as the country’s political geography has realigned.

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How Heineken tapped into China’s beer market

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How Heineken tapped into China’s beer market

Western consumer brands in China have long been coming to terms with the prospect of lower growth in the world’s second-largest economy. But demand for Heineken’s beers tells a different story.

In 2023, sales volumes for the Dutch lager maker’s various brands, including Amstel, rose more than 50 per cent. Last year, as the overall mainland China beer market shrank, its volumes increased nearly 20 per cent to just under 700mn litres — almost enough to serve a pint to everyone in the country.

Heineken’s growth comes after a deal agreed in 2018 with China Resources Beer, China’s biggest brewer, which gave the state-owned group rights to the brand on the mainland while Heineken took a stake in China Resources Beer and gets royalties from the deal.

The approach points to pockets of opportunity for well-known foreign names in China’s fast-evolving consumer sector, even if the wider markets in which they operate are saturated.

“This is a very healthy transactional relationship,” said Tristan van Strien, global investor relations director at Heineken of the relationship with China Resources Beer. “They need us and we need them.”

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Heineken’s growth rates “have undoubtedly outperformed”, said Euan McLeish, an analyst at Bernstein. “None of the other premium brands have been talking about double digits.” 

China’s overall beer market is in decline. Sales fell an estimated 4 to 5 per cent last year amid concerns over consumer confidence.

But for China Resources Beer, whose sales dropped 2.5 per cent in 2024, Heineken is a pick-me-up.

Its deal with Heineken gave it rights to the Dutch beer in China for an initial 20 years, in exchange for a stake in one of its holding companies that gives Heineken an effective interest of about 21 per cent in China Resources Beer.

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The boxes are moving along a conveyor belt
Cartons of Heineken beer on the assembly line at the Jiashan factory in eastern China’s Zhejiang province © Imagine China/Reuters

The lager, previously mainly sold in two southern provinces, was rolled out across the country. Growth has been rapid, helped by sponsorship of events such as the Shanghai Formula 1 grand prix in March, where 500ml servings were on sale for Rmb40 ($5.5).

A 500ml serving of Heineken in China costs an average of Rmb12-15 ($1.67-2.08), according to Morningstar, though prices vary significantly across regions and from bars to shops.

Heineken has grown by “leveraging the distribution network of China Resources Beer”, said Jacky Tsang, an analyst at Morningstar. 

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China Resources Beer, whose local Snow beer is the country’s best-seller, is using Heineken to push into China’s premium market — often defined as beers that cost at least 20 per cent more than the average.

“The overall beer volume in China is on a gradual decline trend,” said Tsang, meaning China Resources had “to go after price growth to drive profit growth”.

Heineken’s growth, from a low base, contrasts with other western brands, which have also generally positioned themselves as premium options in China.

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Danish brewer Carlsberg, which has about 10 per cent of China’s beer market, reported that sales edged 1 per cent lower last year. Jacob Aarup-Andersen, chief executive, said last month the market had been “structurally declining” for 15 years, but there were still “ample growth opportunities”.

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Budweiser built its distribution network in China before Heineken. © Oriental Image/Reuters

Anheuser-Busch-owned Budweiser, which, unlike Heineken, has built a significant distribution network in China, has also reported declining sales.

Competition between the two “is viewed as a winner-takes-all celebrity death match in the mind of many investors”, said McLeish, in reference to the still-developing premium market.

It now takes just 37 minutes of work for the average Chinese to afford 500ml of premium beer, Bernstein estimated, compared with well over an hour a decade ago — close to a global definition of affordability.

“We think in 20-year cycles, and this is the premium development cycle that’s happening in China,” said van Strien, who added that “premium beer tends to do really well” in downturns.

“You’re not talking about a huge capital outlay for someone to have a nice sociable evening.”

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For McLeish, China Resource’s strategy poses a risk to “brand positioning” if the rapid expansion has an adverse impact on price and its premium status.

China Resources Beer “does not really have experience building premium brands” but “if they had taken their time . . . the growth rates would never have been nearly as fast”, he said.

Kevin Leung, investor relations director at China Resources Beer, said there were some promotions but no “significant price drop on any Heineken product”.

There are other risks. Heineken’s exposure to China Resources Beer’s falling share price led it to take a €874mn impairment charge last year, even as its own volumes sharply increased.

The Dutch company does not disclose its dividends and royalty income from the deal, but said its share of income from China Resources Beer and its royalties from China equate to about 6 to 7 per cent of net income globally.

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Van Strien said volumes grew faster than 20 per cent in the first quarter of this year, and that in the same period, volumes of its Amstel brand doubled.

The deal with China Resources had “no planned endpoint”, said van Strien. “The reality is, having a local ownership is often a good thing for us,” he said.

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Harvard has $52,000,000: Trump mounts attack, backs foreign student enrolment ban

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Harvard has ,000,000: Trump mounts attack, backs foreign student enrolment ban

United States President Donald Trump doubled down on his attack on Harvard University while defending his administration’s move to block its ability to enrol international students.

Trump, in a post on Truth Social, claimed almost 31 per cent of students studying at Harvard are from foreign countries and the university administration is not forthcoming with details on these students despite repeated requests from his administration.

His fresh attack comes after a judge suspended his administration’s action.

“Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!”, he wrote.

Trump added, “We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!”

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On Friday, a US judge blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign students, a move that ratcheted up White House efforts to conform practices in academia to President Donald Trump’s policies.

In a complaint filed in Boston federal court earlier on Friday, Harvard called the revocation a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws, and had an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.

“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said.

Earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard that its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification was “revoked effective immediately.”

“I am writing to inform you that, effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked,” the letter read.

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In a social media post she blamed Harvard for, “holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.”

The university filed a lawsuit last month against the administration over attempts to alter its curriculum, admissions procedures, and hiring policies.

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Priya Pareek

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May 25, 2025

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