Business

All-Star Game a high drama for short seller

Jim Chanos (center right) is seen seconds after restaurateur Danny Meyer ‘saved’ the lives of two of his sons. They went to visit a Meyer food stand as slugger Miguel Cabrera lost control of his bat, launching it directly into their seats.

Jim Chanos (center right) is seen seconds after restaurateur Danny Meyer ‘saved’ the lives of two of his sons. They went to visit a Meyer food stand as slugger Miguel Cabrera lost control of his bat, launching it directly into their seats. (
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As far as famed short seller Jim Chanos is concerned, New York restaurateur Danny Meyer was the star of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.

Chanos credits Meyer’s popular Shake Shack burger-and-fry joint with saving his sons from a flying bat that slipped out of Miguel Cabrera’s hands.

The founder of Kynikos Associates told The Post he was sitting with his three sons at Citi Field enjoying the MLB game when two of them decided to get a burger from the stadium’s Shake Shack stand.

It was a good thing they did as that was right around the time the errant bat landed in their seats. The close call was captured on TV and in a photo that rocketed around Twitter.

Chanos said his oldest son, who was still sitting next to him, gave the bat to the father of a little boy in the same row.

The hedge-fund manager said he also contacted Meyer, the force behind Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern, to thank him.

Before the game, Chanos said Meyer had encouraged him and his sons to try his taco stand, El Verano Taquería, which he also operates at Citi Field along with Shake Shack.

Despite the brush with disaster on Tuesday, Chanos showed up yesterday at the CNBC and Institutional Investor’s Delivering Alpha conference in Midtown Manhattan, where he unveiled his latest short idea: Caterpillar.

“It’s an iconic American company, but it’s tied to the wrong products at the wrong time in the cycle,” he told the crowd.

This year’s stock market run has been tough on short sellers like Chanos, who joked at the beginning of his talk, “This is the destroying alpha part of your portfolio.”

Still, Caterpillar fell sharply following his remarks, ending the day at $86.69, down 1.68 percent.