During last night’s 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres, history was witnessed by New York Metropolitan fans around the globe. The mighty Bartolo Colon didn’t just show up to pitch, he also came ready to bat.
Colon had another effective start on the mound, going 6.2 innings strong. He allowed three runs, all coming off one blast by Jon Jay. Colon allowed six hits, while walking one and striking out five. Big Sexy picked up his third win of the season, and kept his ERA under three, as it inched up just a bit to 2.82.
Big Sexy’s pitching though was not the story of the night. Not by any sense of the word was there much talk of his pitching after the game. The big blast off Bart’s bat that would shake opposing pitcher, James Shields, to be speechless after the game. Shields didn’t want to talk about the shot heard round the world when asked for his thoughts after the game.
“Next question, man,” Shields said. (ESPN)
Not surprising by any aspect though, Colon, and his teammates had a lot to say about such a glorious feat.
“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Colon said. “I’m very thankful. I thank God for this amazing moment, and I wasn’t expecting it. Once I hit it I knew it was gone. The ball in San Diego travels well. Anytime I see a fastball I swing hard because I’m not a curveball hitter.”
In his previous start, Colon, smoked a foul ball down the right field line. On Saturday night though, he would connect. A laser shot down to the left field corner and over the fence it went. The sexiest two-run bomb we may ever witness.
The veteran right-hander watched in amazement as it left the ballpark, carrying his bat almost the whole way down to first, before dropping it and taking his ceremonious victory lap around the bases. The Mets captain, David Wright, took notice of what a great moment this was for Colon and fans everywhere.
“You just shake your head,” Wright said. “You watch him take BP and he’s got very good hand-eye coordination and you see him hit some home runs in BP and you think to yourself, `What would happen if he ever did it in a game?'”
“And to do it here with as many Mets fans as here, the 7 Line out there, I mean the place just went nuts, and it’s one of those things where you come to the ballpark never knowing what you’re going to see, and you saw it.”
Thirty seconds is how long it took for Colon to round the bases for the first homer of his career. Colon became the oldest player to hit his first dinger at the ripe age of 42. Possibly the most entertaining man to watch take the field, Colon just continues to add to his historic career.
Just for the fun of it, let’s take a look at it just once, twice or ten more times.
