Even at 50 years old, former Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon still has it!
"Big Sexy" is pitching in "Baseball United," a new league that was formed out of Dubai, and video surfaced on Friday of him still getting it done.
Per Talkin' Baseball on social media:
50-year-old Bartolo Colon sits down Robinson Cano, Alejandro De Aza and Didi Gregorius in the first ever inning in Baseball United history
And then there was this, as well:
50-year-old Bartolo Colon's first start in the Baseball United league:
3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 SO, 1 BB, 53 P
Colon is one of several former stars to be playing in this league along with Cano and Gregorius.
Colon had an incredible major league career arc, which is what makes him so fascinating.
1) He played for 11 different teams during his 21-year career. Any time you run through a third of the league, that automatically makes you interesting. He spent parts of six seasons with the Cleveland franchise, part of one with the Montreal Expos, two years with the Chicago White Sox, four years with the Los Angeles Angels, one year with the Red Sox, one year with the Yankees, two years with the Athletics, three with the Mets, one with the Rangers and part of one with the Braves and Twins each.
2) Colon pitched in the majors until he was 45. If you can pitch until your mid-40s, that also makes you interesting automatically. And his style of pitching completely changed as he got older, which was fascinating to watch. When he first came up, he was a flamethrower. By the end, he was a nibbler who worked the corners with precision. He featured an incredible two-seamer the last few years of his career.
3 On that point, he figured out how to adapt as he got older. He made the All-Star team in three different decades of his career. He was there as a 25-year-old, a 32-year-old and he made it twice in his 40s (age 40 and age 43).
All that said, Colon was also suspended for steroid use, making him part of the conversation on one of the biggest stains in the game history.
All told, Colon went 247-188 in his career with a 4.12 ERA. He started 552 career games and threw more than 3,400 career innings. He had more than 2,500 career strikeouts.
He won a Cy Young award in 2005 with the Angels and also got Cy Young votes in four different seasons.
And who could forget the memorable home run he had in San Diego while a member of the Mets? It's one of the more iconic baseball highlights of the last decade.
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