Mets boss Cohen departs Twitter after threats

The owner of the New York Mets says he has dropped off Twitter because his family received threats that he attributed to “misinformation” that was not tied to the baseball team.

Steve Cohen’s hedge fund, Point72, has become entangled in market turmoil that has pitted a band of small investors against traders that made bets against — or “shorted” — stock of companies including Gamestop.

Hedge funds that shorted Gamestop have lost billions as small investors bid up the company’s shares. One of the short sellers, Melvin Capital, announced this week that it received a $750 million infusion from Point72.

“I’ve really enjoyed the back and forth with Mets fans on Twitter which was unfortunately overtaken this week by misinformation unrelated to the Mets that led to our family getting personal threats,” Cohen said

Saturday in a statement issued by the Mets. “So I’m going to take a break for now.”

Twitter users looking for Cohen’s account Friday got a message reading, “This account doesn’t exist Try searching for another.”

The hedge fund billionaire told Mets fans “We have other ways to listen to your suggestions and remain committed to doing that.” He added that this week’s events would not affect the team’s resources.

Cohen first took a stake in the Mets in 2012. Last year he gained 95 percent ownership in a deal that valued the club at $2.4 billion, a record sale price for a Major League Baseball team.

The Mets tied for last place in the National League East division in ’20. This month, the team fired its newly hired GM, Jared

Porter, after reports that he had sent explicit and unsolicited messages to a female reporter several years ago.

Trivia question

Happy birthday to former Padres catcher Fred Kendall, who turns 72 today. Fred is the father of longtime major leaguer Jason Kendall, who was born in San Diego, with his father playing here in 1974. Neither father nor son was known for hitting home runs. Which player had the advantage in homers per at-bat?

They said it

• From Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: “For the first time since 2013, no players were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Fittingly, Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens discovered they were “just a bit outside” on Bob

Uecker’s 87th birthday. • From Gary Bachman, via Facebook, after a state lawmaker in Oklahoma proposed a Bigfoothunting season: “The season begins and ends April 1.”

• From Dave Zirin of The Nation, via Twitter, on what it was like to interview free-spirited ex-pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee: “Like riding in a rodeo when you’ve never been on a horse.” • From Chiefs coach Andy Reid, to reporters, on his 18 NFL seasons working alongside new Texans coach David Culley: “We had a few cheeseburgers together.”

Trivia answer

Though Jason outhomered his dad 75-31, Fred had the advantage in home runs per at-bat, homering once every 83.1 at-bats. Jason homered once every 101.7 at-bats. Jason can say he had the better slugging percentage, .378 to .312, thanks to 394 career doubles.