Former Cubs player Anthony Rizzo snares Michael Busch's home run ball in the Wrigley Field bleachers

CHICAGO (AP) — The ball from current Cubs first baseman Michael Busch’s first inning solo homer in a 6-2 win over Minnesota on Saturday was recovered in Wrigley Field’s right-field bleachers by former Chicago first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Rizzo didn’t catch Busch’s 12th homer on the fly, but reached behind and picked the ball up off the concrete after it landed. Rizzo held it high in the air with a small boy on his shoulder.

Rizzo, a three-time All-Star who played 10 of his 14 seasons with the Cubs, took part in dedicating an arching, 31-foot wide “Champions Gate” on the west side of Wrigley Field before the game. It commemorated the 10th anniversary of Chicago winning the World Series in 2016.

Busch initially didn't know Rizzo retrieved the ball. He was told by catcher Miguel Amaya, who doubled in two runs in the second inning.

The notion of a previous Cubs slugging first baseman snaring the home run ball of the current one wasn't lost on the 28-year-old Busch, who homered 34 times last year. The 36-year-old Rizzo hit 242 regular-season home runs with Chicago and 303 for his career.

"I thought that was super, just like mind-blowing," Busch said. "Who knows how things work out, but I thought that was pretty cool.

“Just the 2016 team, what they did for this city and the championship that they brought was obviously a big deal," Busch added. "You could just tell from the fans how much they were loved and how much joy they brought to the city. And then Rizzo was kind of a cornerstone for them.”

Rizzo hit .292 with 32 homers and 109 RBIs in the 2016 regular season, then went on to add three homers and 10 RBIs in the postseason as the Cubs ended a 108-year championship drought.

Team owner Tom Ricketts, 2016 manager Joe Maddon and Rizzo addressed the crowd in a ceremony that included some 20 players from team. Maddon and the players returned to the field before the game and right-hander Kyle Hendricks threw a ceremonial first pitch.

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Former Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo holds up the 2016 World Series Championship trophy as his walks on the field before a baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Former Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo holds up the 2016 World Series Championship trophy as his walks on the field before a baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch, right, rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run as Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley looks down during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch, right, celebrates with third base coach Quintin Berry after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Chicago, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. envoy to the United Nations said Monday that the U.S. government soon will move to stop violent gangs in Haiti from making money off social media posts.

Gang leaders in the troubled Caribbean country are prolific users of social media and have celebrated killings, issued threats and posted musings on various sites. Younger gang members also post music videos and wave cash they've earned in an effort to recruit children in the impoverished nation.

Mike Waltz, who recently visited Haiti, called the practice “incredibly disturbing” and warned the U.S. would “shut that down” in the near future. He didn’t provide further details while speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York.

He spoke as the U.S. prepares this week to strip the temporary protected status of some 350,000 Haitians who live in the United States, exposing them to deportation, a move largely criticized by lawyers and human rights experts.

Efforts to crack down on the gangs' use of social media are not new. In 2023, YouTube banned Johnson André, considered Haiti's most powerful gang leader and also known as Izo, following heavy criticism after he received an award for surpassing more than 100,000 subscribers.

The U.S. envoy also called on countries with aircraft capacity to help with the deployment of foreign troops joining the latest U.N.-backed mission in Haiti to fight gangs, including Sri Lanka and Ivory Coast. He said sea lifts take too long and that Haitians need help now.

Gang violence has displaced a record almost 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than half of the country's nearly 12 million inhabitants need humanitarian aid.

More than 2,300 people have been killed and more than 1,100 injured since January, according to the U.N. Earlier this year, clashes in the Cite Soleil slum in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, led to 542 killings and 355 injuries. In addition, at least 176 women and girls were raped, the U.N. found.

Waltz shared how gangs recently surrounded an armored vehicle that got stuck in a ditch and lit a fire underneath, forcing Haitian police officers to flee.

“They were flayed alive on the streets,” Waltz said, adding that their bodies were pinned to the side of the vehicle to send a message.

“I want everyone to understand the fight ahead,” he added.

Waltz noted that Haiti needs equipment including heavy bulldozers to clear streets and gang-controlled checkpoints, adding that armed men have taken over roads, ports, hospitals, prisons and other state infrastructure.

“Haiti’s just a few hundred miles from Florida,” he said. “In that regard, it’s a critical interest to the United States.”

Gangs control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince, and about half of gang members are children, according to the U.N. Poverty and hunger are deepening.

“The situation of children in Haiti is among the most alarming anywhere in the world,” said Vanessa Frazier, the U.N.’s special representative for children and armed conflict. “Children are being killed, maimed, abducted, recruited and used by armed gangs, displaced from their homes, denied access to education and deprived of basic protection and legal identity.”

Jack Christofides, special representative of the U.N.-backed gang suppression force operating in Haiti, said it has established its headquarters, deployed its first forward operating base and recently began cracking down on gang infrastructure.

“The political and humanitarian environment nevertheless remains extremely challenging,” he said. “Armed gangs are likely to adapt their tactics to stay in control.”

The international community has been pressuring Haiti to hold general elections, which would be the first in more than a decade.

While the country is led by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who was appointed, it hasn’t had a president since President Jovenel Moïse was killed at his private residence in July 2021. Gang violence has surged since then.

Seven of Haiti’s 10 provinces are ready for electoral activities, while the gang suppression force is vital to restoring security in the remaining three, said Raina Forbin, Haiti’s foreign affairs minister.

The three provinces include Port-au-Prince, and overall they account for more than half of all voters, noted Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative for Haiti. He noted the displacement caused by gang violence and said the voter registration that began on Monday “will give us a new reality of where the voters are currently.”

Forbin said that by year’s end, an additional 4,000 officers are expected to join Haiti’s National Police, which remains understaffed and underfunded. Meanwhile, an additional 1,500 recruits are expected to join Haiti’s revived Armed Forces.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz speaks before President Donald Trump arrives at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., during the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

FILE - Vehicles that were set on fire by armed gangs sit in the Cite Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)