Day: April 21, 2022

Cabrera Remains One Hit Away From Baseball’s 3,000 Club

Miguel Cabrera’s pursuit of a rare baseball feat — a 3,000th career hit — remained on hold Thursday, with the New York Yankees taking heat for intentionally walking the Detroit Tigers slugger. 

Cabrera needs one hit to become just the 33rd player in Major League Baseball history to reach the 3,000-hit milestone, and Tigers fans in Detroit were primed to witness the feat on Thursday. 

They reacted with jeers and boos and chants of “Yankees suck!” when Cabrera, with 2,999 career hits, came to the plate in the eighth inning and Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave the signal for him to be intentionally walked. 

Cabrera had already flied out in the first inning and struck out in two more at-bats. 

With two out and runners at second and third base, Boone opted to walk the two-time Most Valuable Player to load the bases and set up a left-hander vs. left-hander matchup between his pitcher Lucas Luetge and Detroit batter Austin Meadows. 

Boone acknowledged that the decision to issue an intentional walk was “a little more gut-wrenching than usual.” 

“The left-on-left, I felt like the matchup — I just liked it a little bit better in that situation and it came down to a baseball call for me there,” Boone said. 

It didn’t pay off, however. Meadows smacked a two-run double that gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead and an eventual 3-0 win. 

Cabrera took it all in stride. 

“It’s baseball,” he told reporters, noting he had missed three chances to reach the 3,000-hit milestone earlier in the game. 

“I know history is very important,” Cabrera said in comments posted on MLB.com. “But we need to win first. It’s not about me. It’s about the team.” 

Cabrera, 39, could become the first Venezuelan MLB player to reach 3,000 hits. 

Dominican Albert Pujols is the only active MLB player who has reached the milestone.

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Secretive SpaceX Mission Begins; NASA Program Hits Another Snag

Also, Russian cosmonauts put in work at the International Space Station. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi wraps up The Week in Space.

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Elon Musk Appears to Have Secured Financing for Twitter Tender Offer

According to papers filed with U.S. securities regulators, billionaire Elon Musk appears ready to continue his bid to take over Twitter, this time via a tender offer that would bypass the company’s board and offer to buy stock directly from shareholders. 

Twitter’s board of directors last week voted unanimously to use a tactic called a “poison pill” to fend off Musk’s attempt to acquire the company. 

The papers show Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has secured $46.5 billion in financing for the offer of $54.20 per share. 

Twitter “is committed to conducting a careful, comprehensive and deliberate review to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders,” the company said in a statement Thursday. 

The news only shows Musk could go forward with a tender offer, but apparently no decision has been made.  

In addition to Musk, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Bank of America, Societie Generale, Mizuho Bank, BNP Paribas and MUFG could be involved in the deal. 

They have reportedly agreed to finance $25.5 billion of the deal while Musk could cover the rest. 

Twitter stock was trading flat on the development. 

Under the poison pill plan, all Twitter shareholders except Musk could buy more shares at a discount. This would dilute the world’s richest person’s stake in the company and prevent him from recruiting a majority of shareholders supporting his move. 

If Musk’s ownership in Twitter grows to 15% or more, the poison pill would go into effect. 

Last week, Musk, who was revealed as the company’s largest individual shareholder, with 9.2% of the shares, later offered more than $43 billion, or $54.20 per share, to purchase the entire company. 

Musk’s offer would provide a substantial premium over Twitter’s current stock price. 

When Musk made his offer, he lamented the company’s stance on free speech. 

“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.” 

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press. 

 

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