New York Mets Bartolo Colon Hits His First Career Home Run
The hitting exploits of New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon had always been good for a laugh. This time, the joke was on James Shields and the Padres.
The gift that is Bartolo Colon just keeps on giving. On Saturday night at Petco Park in San Diego, the 42-year old pitcher of the New York Mets made history with a second inning home run.
With a 1-1 count, a runner on, and two outs in a 2-0 game, Colon took a 90-mile per hour pitch from the Padres’ James Shields deep to the left field seats.
The shot had an exit velocity of just under 97 miles per hour and a launch angle just south of 35 degrees, but perhaps the best statistic of all was the nearly 32 seconds it took Colon to round the bases.
This was the first longball of Colon’s 19-year career, which is notable for a number of reasons. At 42, he became the oldest player in big league history to hit his first home run, shattering the record set in 2003 by a then 40-year old Randy Johnson.
Colon also became the fifth-oldest pitcher since 1913 to homer in a game, coming in behind Warren Spahn, Phil Niekro, Dazzy Vance, and Jack Quinn, and the second-oldest member of the Mets behind Julio Franco and just ahead of Willie Mays.
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In addition to the epic blast, Colon also got the win in the ballgame after allowing just three runs on six hits in 6.1 innings of work. The sore thumb that sticks out of New York’s starting rotation of young fireballers, Colon is 3-1 in 2016 with a 2.82 ERA in 38.1 innings pitched overall.
In his last start, Colon recorded career win No. 220, which moved him ahead of Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez for the second-most among pitchers born in the Dominican Republic. Juan Marichal, the San Francisco Giants great who is also in the Hall of Fame, holds that record with 243 career victories.
Colon began his career in 1997 with the Cleveland Indians, and won the Cy Young award in 2005 after going 21-7 with a 3.48 ERA as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. A three-time all-star, he has become a fan favorite all over social media, having his forays into hitting, running the bases, and fielding his position turned into GIFs on a nearly weekly basis.
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In 246 career plate appearances entering the night, Colon was hitting .089 with just two extra-base hits, both of which were doubles. His home run threatened to break Twitter, as it was trending across the country and stealing the spotlight from the Kentucky Derby and the NBA playoffs.