Atlanta Braves: Happy 20th MLB Anniversary, Bartolo Colon!

It’s been 20 years since Bartolo Colon first took the mound in a Major League Baseball game. Twenty years ago today, that is.

On April 4, 1997, Bartolo Colon took the mound as the starter for the Cleveland Indians against the then-Anaheim Angels, a team he would later take home the Cy Young Award while playing for.

Colon pitched five innings that day, allowing four runs off six hits and three walks while striking out four opposing batters.

Today, exactly 20 years later, Colon will take the mound for the Atlanta Braves against his most recent former team, the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York.

Still, after two decades in the game he’s found a spot as the number-two starter on a big league team and he’s still beloved by his fans and his teammates everywhere he’s been in his career.

Yesterday when Colon was announced as a representative of the Braves he still got a standing ovation in which the cheers went on for so long and were so loud that he had to remove his cap and wave it to the Mets crowd.

According to Laura Albanese of Newsday, the only reason the cheering stopped was because the rest of the Mets team still needed to be announced.

It’s more than Colon’s 20-year career that makes him great. From what you hear from his teammates he’s a great guy and role model for younger players.

"“He’s the same guy every day, he says hello to you every single day, and he’s got that smile that lights up a room,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said."

The Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, who considered Colon both a mentor and close friend, tweeted this when he learned Colon had signed with the Atlanta Braves,

While there are more teammate testimonies and ones from coaches too, Colon’s career on the field has been just as spectacular.

In just his second season with the Indians, Colon was named to his first of four All-Star teams. He finished in the top 10 in the Cy Young voting four times over the years, winning the award in 2005 while with the currently-named Los Angeles Angels.

While he has been a consistent pitching force, throwing mostly fastballs, it shouldn’t be a surprise that over the past 20 years his fastball velocity has diminished.

However, that has yet to stop Colon, who has pitched for nine different teams in his career, including the Montreal Expos. He is currently the last active player in Major League Baseball to have ever donned an Expos uniform.

The most interesting part of Colon’s career has been his recent success. Sure, he could win the Cy Young Award at age 32 but what about at age 40?

While he didn’t win the Cy Young Award while playing with the Oakland Athletics in 2013, he made his third All-Star team at age 40 and was second in the American League in both wins (18) and ERA (2.65) that season.

Upon moving on to the Mets, Colon enjoyed three more 14-plus win seasons and another trip to the All-Star Game, this time at the age of 43. He was a staple in the Mets ailing rotation over the past few seasons and he’s done so using his now 88 MPH fastball approximately 90 percent of the time.

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Now playing in his 20th MLB season with the Atlanta Braves, Colon has one main goal.

While last year he became the oldest player (and least likely) to hit his first ever home run during which the entire country went wild, he’s not done making milestones just yet.

At 44 years of age he’ll be the oldest player in the league, but “Big Sexy” has another milestone he feels the need to pass.

His current 233 wins have him third all-time in wins by a Latin American player behind Dennis Martinez (245) and the great Dominican pitcher Juan Marichal (243). Colon wants to become the greatest Dominican pitcher of all time and he needs just 10 more wins to do it.

However, if his 20th season is like most of the rest of his career he should be able to pass Martinez in wins becoming the winningest Latin American pitcher ever.

Will Colon continue to play beyond this season if he breaks his coveted record? If he feels like it, maybe.

One thing everyone knows about Bartolo Colon is exactly how much joy he gets just from playing the game. Whether he’s given up 10 runs or thrown a no-hitter, he’s the same happy Bartolo Colon.

"Braves catcher Tyler Flowers added, “He’s a funny guy, even though he’s not always on the same page as far as language and all. He has a good time, he keeps it loose. I think that’s something that plays to his advantage — whether he’s pitching well or not pitching well, whatever the situation is, it keeps him very level, keeps his confidence up at all times. And keeps everyone around him loose, too, which is always a good thing."

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