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☆ Baseball’s Rule Change Shifts the Market for Left-Handed Pull Hitters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Lindsey Adler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Upcoming rule changes in Major League Baseball may benefit a subsection of players who have signed new free agent deals this winter: Left-handed pull hitters, who have spent the past decade being victimized by baseball’s information age and increased efficiencies in defensive positioning. Major League Baseball next season will ban the defensive shifts that have been especially haunting for left-handed hitters in recent years. Shift victims—including former National League MVP Cody Bellinger, outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Joey Gallo, along with infielders Anthony Rizzo and Brandon Belt—may see an opportunity to improve their performance, and market value, due to the upcoming rule change.

☆ Who will be Wall Street’s un-American idol?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Europeans have been losing the battle against Wall Street’s cozy club for a decade. Deutsche Bank has done the former. BNP has made smaller steps, buying Bank of America’s prime broking business in 2008, then Deutsche Bank’s in 2019. Even with the best intentions, European banks must contend with their own regulators, which affects their ability to take risk elsewhere. JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs together took the top five slots for debt capital markets and merger advisory, as they also did in 2021.

☆ GOP lawmakers want answers from Uber about drivers allegedly transporting drugs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

House Republicans sent a letter Thursday to Uber asking the tech company to explain what steps it is taking in response to drivers' complaints that they’re being asked to deliver packages they suspect to be drugs. Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. Those companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Democratic side did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Just as we have asked social media companies to do their part to curb the sale of drugs on their platforms, Uber must act to ensure Uber Connect is not used to transport untracked shipments of illicit drugs to Americans,” the lawmakers wrote.

☆ Michael Jordan: The NBA has renamed its MVP trophy after the Bulls great
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images Jordan poses for a Little League Baseball photo in the late 1970s. Ken Levine/Getty Images Jordan famously shrugs his shoulders after hitting another 3-pointer during the 1992 NBA Finals versus Portland. "There is a reason you call someone the Michael Jordan of ... neurosurgery, or the Michael Jordan of rabbis, or the Michael Jordan of outrigger canoeing. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Jordan continues to promote Nike's Jordan Brand across the world. Jordan Brand/Getty Images Jordan cries at the Kobe Bryant memorial in Los Angeles in February 2020.

☆ Former Major League Baseball pitcher T.J. House comes out as gay
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Former Major League Baseball player T.J. House came out as gay and announced his engagement to his partner, Ryan Neitzel, in an emotional social media post Thursday. He said he felt like he could not be himself around many people, because of conversations he heard from others and in church. “It’s hard listening to people talk about you without them knowing that the words they are saying are directed at you,” he said. “This is a great day for the league and baseball,” Bean, who is now the league’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, told Outsports. It allows Ryan Neitzel and I to come together and create something beautiful.

☆ Grant Wahl: A charming, kind and talented journalist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Don Riddell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The American soccer journalist Grant Wahl, who’d also been covering the game at Lusail, had died. The LED board shows a photo of Grant Wahl prior to the quarterfinal match between England and France. Wahl pictured at an awards ceremony in Doha during the World Cup. Grant Wahl (left) being interviewed by CNN's Don Riddel in Qatar. He was charming, kind and just so happy to be covering his eighth men’s World Cup and the game he loved.

☆ The Mega Contract Is Back in Major League Baseball
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Lindsey Adler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SAN DIEGO—Major League Baseball’s first in-person Winter Meetings since 2019 was a blazing reminder that there is big, big money in baseball. And some team owners are once again willing to spend it far, far into the future. The dizzying pace of deals this week sent a jarring message across the sport: After years of clubs behaving much more conservatively in free agency, the payroll pendulum has swung.

☆ New York Yankees and Aaron Judge reportedly agree on nine-year deal worth $360 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Wayne Sterling | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —New York Yankees and slugger Aaron Judge have reportedly agreed on a nine-year deal worth $360 million, sources told ESPN, The Athletic senior writer Ken Rosenthal and MLB Network insider Jon Morosi on Wednesday. The slugger comes off a historic season with the Yankees. Maris hit 61 home runs 61 years ago in 1961, breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 60 set in 1927. Barry Bonds set the major league record with 73 home runs in 2001. Judge finished his stellar 2022 season leading Major League Baseball in home runs (62), RBIs (131) and runs (133) in 157 games.

Three people close to FTX and Bankman-Fried told CNBC that the former CEO lobbied aggressively for a partnership with 11-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift. Bankman-Fried's commitment to getting the Swift deal done despite the deteriorating business environment fit a pattern of ignoring his lieutenants and going it alone, a half-dozen former company insiders and business partners said. The Financial Times reported earlier that FTX held talks with Swift about a potential sponsorship. Part of the Swift deal would have included the production by the singer of a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or digital items that can rise and fall in value. Beyond that, there was a lack of clarity over what Swift would be doing for the company, sources said.

☆ Deion Sanders is showing that upward mobility isn't just for white coaches
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Cecil Harris | Cecil Harris Is A Veteran Sports Journalist Whose Work Has Appeared In The New York Times | Usa Today | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Many are upset that the Black former superstar is leaving a Historically Black University where his leadership could continue to provide a solid foundation for young Black athletes. Sanders proved his ability in his first coaching job by making the Jackson State Tigers the best team among HBCUs. In his final game at Jackson State, Sanders will lead the Tigers against North Carolina Central University in the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17 in Atlanta. At each previous stop in Saban’s head coaching journey (University of Toledo, Michigan State University, Louisiana State University and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins), he may well have disappointed some players who signed on hoping he would stay. His son, Jackson State star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, is expected to do just that and follow his father.

☆ White House to address rising anti-Semitism, attacks on Jews
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The White House will address rising anti-Semitism in a roundtable event with Jewish leaders on Wednesday focused on attacks against Jews across the United States and how to combat hate. The White House did not say which leaders from the Jewish community would attend the event, hosted by second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or a vice president. The move comes as reports of anti-Semitism have increased nationwide. The issue has drawn headlines in recent weeks after former Republican President Donald Trump hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes and the musician formerly known as Kanye West at his private club in Florida. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting anti-Semitism wherever it hides.

☆ Deion Sanders is hired as the next football head coach for the University of Colorado
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Jacob Lev | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Football legend Deion Sanders has been named the new University of Colorado football head coach, the school announced Saturday. The Tigers won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship earlier Saturday, defeating Southern University 43-24. “There were a number of highly qualified and impressive candidates interested in becoming the next head football coach at Colorado, but none of them had the pedigree, the knowledge and the ability to connect with student-athletes like Deion Sanders,” Colorado athletic director Rick George said in a statement. In October, Colorado fired Karl Dorrell after an 0-5 start and an 8-15 overall record in three years as head coach. Interim head coach Mike Sanford went 1-6 as the Buffaloes finished the season with the worst record in the Pac-12 Conference.

☆ Brad William Henke, ‘Orange Is the New Black’ actor, dead at 56
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Brad William Henke, a veteran character actor known for his work on “Orange Is the New Black” and other series, has died, according to his agent and manager. “Brad Henke was an incredibly kind man of joyous energy. Henke in a secene from "Orange is the New Black." Henke opened an acting studio in Los Angeles in 2000 where he helped to guide the careers of other actors. Henke is survived by his mother Tammy, his sister Annette, his wife Sonja, his stepson Aaden, his stepdaughter Leasa and his grandchild Amirah.

The PSG chaiman also told Anderson that he believes media criticism of the country was down to the fact that many had not visited Qatar. The 49-year-old told Anderson that PSG would want any potential bidder to share a long-term commitment to the club. The 49-year-old told Anderson that he remains opposed to the idea, but is not against other changes. Al-Khelaifi told Anderson that PSG has a two-year contract with Messi, but will discuss his next steps after the tournament ends. Al-Khelaifi told Anderson he expected the star to be okay for the tournament’s knock-out stages, but that he needs referees to give him more protection.

☆ Hate speech dramatically surges on Twitter following Elon Musk takeover, new research shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN Business —New Twitter owner Elon Musk declared last month that “hate speech impressions” had dramatically fallen on the platform since he took over. It was a remarkable claim, given that Musk has executed mass layoffs and chased away hundreds of employees, draining the company of much-needed resources to enforce content moderation policies, which the billionaire has also publicly criticized. On Friday, two watchdog groups published research that indicated Musk’s claim simply did not hold water, offering one of the clearest pictures to date of the surging tide of hate speech on the platform. The Center for Countering Digital Hate and Anti-Defamation League both said in reports that the volume of hate speech on Twitter has grown dramatically under Musk’s stewardship. Specifically, the Center for Countering Digital Hate said the daily use of the n-word under Musk is triple the 2022 average and the use of slurs against gay men and trans persons are up 58% and 62%, respectively.

☆ Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young winner Gaylord Perry dead at age 84
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Homero De La Fuente | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Baseball Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young award winner Gaylord Perry has died at age 84. With the Indians, Perry won his first Cy Young award after leading the American League in wins (24) and complete games (29). With the Padres, Perry won his second-career Cy Young to become the first player in MLB history to win the award in both leagues. In 1991, Perry was inducted into the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame. “We have lost another member of our Hall of Fame family thoughts and prayers go out to Gaylord Perry’s family and friends RIP my friend you’ll be dearly missed,” Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs wrote in a statement on Twitter.

☆ Amazon's cloud unit wants to widen appeal of cashier-less tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAS VEGAS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) hopes to interest a wider range of industries in the technology it developed for cashier-less checkout at brick-and-mortar shops, a vice president said. Since 2020, it has sold these systems to food and retail markets in airports, professional and university stadiums, and a convention center. In India, an area of growth for Amazon, it has bought another cashier-less company called Watasale, he said. TechCrunch in September reported Watasale's founders had moved to the online retailer, but Amazon had no comment on the acquisition at the time. Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in Las Vegas; Editing by Howard GollerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Disney buys MLB's stake in streaming firm BAMTech for $900 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) disclosed on Tuesday that it has taken full control of BAMTech, a video-streaming firm spun off from Major League Baseball's digital media company MLB Advanced Media. Disney earlier this month purchased the remaining stake in BAMTech from Major League Baseball for $900 million, the company said in a SEC filing. Previous to the transaction, streaming technology services provider BAMTech was owned 85% by Disney and 15% by Major League Baseball (MLB). BAMTech provides the streaming platform for such entities as Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment and Warner Bros Discovery Inc's HBO. Streaming service provider Hulu is owned 67% by Disney and 33% by NBC Universal (NBCU).

☆ Crypto crash leaves media companies with budget holes as advertising dries up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In Alphabet 's third-quarter earnings call last month, the company blamed a slowdown in revenue growth in part on reduced ad spending by cypto companies and other financial firms. A 30-second spot during the NFL's grand finale in February cost an average of $6.5 million, and crypto was a huge theme. Crypto.com's online ad spending plummeted from about $16.2 million in the first quarter to $1.6 million in the third, SensorTower said. The crypto market has suffered downturns in the past, only to bounce back and attract even greater sums of cash and new entrants. WATCH: FTX's bankruptcy puts increased pressure on the ad market

☆ Employees Are Using Job Offers to Win Big Raises From Their Employers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Employers, not surprisingly, hate that people are using job offers as bargaining chips. That strategy may work for employers in a normal job market, when it's hard to find another job, let alone a better-paying one. "Employees are finding that there's a big gap between where they are and what they can get." "The job market is still performing very well," says Jay Denton, the chief analytics officer at LaborIQ, a compensation-data provider. Independence, it turns out, pays way, way better than loyalty.

☆ Fanatics, Nike take sports merchandise model global in deal with Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most popular baseball team
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Riley De León | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A woman browses a merchandise shop in Tokyo Dome ahead of the Japan Central League baseball match between Yomiuri Giants and Hiroshima Carp on October 14, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Sports commerce platform Fanatics is expanding a recently signed long-term partnership with Nike to include manufacturing and distribution of merchandise for the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most successful and popular baseball team. Nike will become the official uniform supplier of the Yomiuri Giants. Fanatics is also creating autograph and collectible products for fans of the Yomiuri Giants. The Yomiuri Giants are the first sports team outside the U.S. to adopt this Nike-Fanatics model for on-field and sports merchandise.

☆ Investor Kari Firestone: Here's why this comeback rally feels different
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Karen Firestone | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

While the S & P 500 rose 11% during two weeks in March and 18% from mid-June to mid-August, investors bailed out and tripped the prior lows for the year. It wasn't obvious that Americans still had huge amounts of buying power that would continue to drive price levels higher. One definition might be when there is a fundamental shift in some critical measurements of the most negative weights pressuring stock prices. The S & P soared 5.5% that day, and the Nasdaq vaulted over 7%. This rally is different, even if it moves sideways or falters for a while because its genesis is based on real facts and figures.

☆ Ohtani says he wants to play in 2023 World Baseball Classic
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 17 (Reuters) - Two-way standout Shohei Ohtani of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels said on Thursday he wants to play for Team Japan at next year's World Baseball Classic. Ohtani took to Instagram to say he has contacted Team Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama of his desire to play in the tournament for the first time in his career. "I have officially informed Team Japan Manager Mr. Kuriyama that I would like to participate in next year's WBC," Ohtani wrote. Taichung, Tokyo, Phoenix and Miami are the four host cities of the World Baseball Classic. As a hitter, Ohtani had 34 home runs and 95 RBI.

☆ Liberty Media to Split Off MLB’s Atlanta Braves
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Austin Riley of the Atlanta Braves made a catch against the Philadelphia Phillies last month in Atlanta. Media and entertainment company Liberty Media Corp. said it would split off the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team and its associated real-estate development project into a separate, publicly traded company. Liberty Media, which operates and owns interests in businesses including Sirius XM Holdings Inc. and Formula One Group, said it would redeem its existing Liberty Braves common stock in exchange for shares of a newly formed company to be called Atlanta Braves Holdings Inc.

☆ You Can Soon Buy Stock Directly in the Atlanta Braves
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Austin Riley of the Atlanta Braves made a catch against the Philadelphia Phillies last month in Atlanta. Fans could soon own a piece of just the Atlanta Braves. Liberty Media Corp., the owner of the Major League Baseball team, said it plans to split the Braves off into a publicly traded company, separating shares of the team from the rest of billionaire John Malone ‘s sprawling holdings.

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