Yo La Tengo Plays Ball
PHOTO: Mark Vientos and Ira Kaplan
Yo La Tengo—one of the defining bands of “The Hoboken Sound”—went to Citi Field in Queens to watch the Mets beat the Phillies. Before the game, the Public Address announcer said, “Please welcome guitarist and vocalist Ira Kaplan from the group Yo La Tengo, who have been one of the most critically acclaimed bands in American music for almost 40 years.” With that, singer-songwriter-guitarist Ira Kaplan took the mound to throw out the ceremonial First Pitch. Met rookie third baseman Mark Vientos caught the ball. Kaplan threw it beautifully. It did not bounce.
The band’s 17th album, This Stupid World, will be supported by a national tour starting in Jersey City tomorrow.
Kaplan is a lifelong Mets fan. He even named his band—the story goes—after something 1962 Met center-fielder Richie Ashburn said (when Kaplan was five) in Spanish when going after a fly ball—“Yo La Tengo! Yo La Tengo!—which translates to “I got it! I got it!” so as not to collide with Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacon. Unfortunately, he crashed into left-fielder Frank Thomas instead who doesn’t speak Spanish and the ball dropped. It’s only one of a million stories about that 1962 Mets team that is still—to this day—the worst team in the history of baseball.
(Advertisement) Watch the video of the moment below…