Original Met Frank Thomas dies at 93
Original Met Frank Thomas died at the age of 93, the team announced on Monday.
Thomas spent three seasons with the team. At that time, he set a franchise single-season home run record with 34 in 1962. In that inaugural season at the Polo Grounds, he also recorded 94 RBI and slashed .266/.329/.496. He spent 16 seasons in the major leagues playing for the Pirates, Mets, Cubs, Phillies, Reds, Braves and Astros.
“Frank was a lifelong Pittsburgher who spent his first eight seasons with his hometown team,” the Pirates wrote on their official Twitter account. “We send our condolences to the Thomas family at this time.”
The three-time All-Star was present in last summer’s Mets Old Timers’ Day alongside Hall of Famers Mike Piazza and Joe Torre.
“I’m so thankful that my dad was able to go to Old Timers’ Day,” Thomas’ daughter, Maryanne Pacconi said. “It meant the world to him to see his old teammates. I was thrilled with how the fans greeted him. I was so happy to see him in uniform again. We will treasure those memories forever.”
Mets fans familiar with Thomas have heard a comical story involving teammates, outfielder Richie Ashburn and shortstop Elio Chacon, during the 1962 season with the team.
Ashburn would yell “I got it!” when tracking pop-ups, but Chacon, who did not speak English, would collide with the outfielder. Ashburn then learned to yell “Yo la tengo” — meaning I got it — to
successfully alert Chacon in future games.
In a later game, Ashburn successfully called off Chacon, only to be run over by Thomas — who didn’t understand Spanish.
Thomas then got up after colliding with
Ashburn and said “What the heck is a Yellow Tango?”
The story became the inspiration for a group of New Jersey artists to name their indie rock band “Yo La Tengo.”