Yo La Tengo is a rock group based in New Jersey featuring the husband wife duo of Ira Kaplan and Georgie Hubley. They are big in my world, even if you’ve never heard of them.

Their name is a baseball reference. When the New York Mets started out, as an expansion team, they were pretty horrible, and laughable. This was about nine years before “the Miracle Mets” the 1969 Champions, Tom Terrific and and that.

Elio Chacon

“Yo La Tengo” is Spanish for “I Got It’ or maybe “I Got Her” — I guess that’s a pun, or inside joke between the couple. The Mets had a centerfielder Richie Ashburn, formerly a champ with Philadelphia I think, without looking it up. They had a Venezuelan shortstop, a pioneer –now there are more than 200 close to 300 Venezuelans who’ve played MLB, including our Panda Sandoval and King Felix of the Seattles — excuse the digression — the Mets had a shortstop who spoke Spanish but little English, Elio Chacon. There was a pop fly to the outfield that fell between Ashburn and Chacon. Ashburn learned that “Yo La Tengo” means “I Got It”. The next game another similar ball up there and Ashburn or Chacon call for it in Spanish but another outfielder Frank Thomas comes running in, plows over or maybe there is a 3-way collision. He missed the meeting where they went over “Yo La Tengo”. I think, by the way, this is also the source of the SNL character played by Garret Morris Chico Escuela “baseball been berra berra good to me”.

My point is that between Molly Stump, Jim Keane, Council, the FOBV, Simitian, I don’t see real leadership I see a lot of chatter and I fear the ball is going to drop. I suggest eminenent domain for $10 M — don’t take his property, merely refund what it put in, the ownership group, back in 2000. Let the courts decide if that is fair. Seems fair, and due process to me. And adios amigo to the ownership group.

edit to add: that’s a typo. I meant “emimet domain”

like this

edit to add, November: when the World Series (of baseball) started with the Royals shortstop hitting the first pitch for an inside the park home run, I shot a screen capture of the New York Mets outfielders and thought “Yo La Tengo 2″….Royals won in five.