...ge(left, right, how, on, left_on, right_on, left_index, right_index, sort, suffixes, copy, indicator, validate)
    155     return _cross_merge(
    156         left_df,
    157         right_df,
   (...)    167         copy=copy,
    168     )
    169 else:
--> 170     op = _MergeOperation(
    171         left_df,
    172         right_df,
    173         how=how,
    174         on=on,
    175    ...