Longtime major league pitcher Bartolo Colon is officially retiring at age 50, Dominican news site Z101 Digital reported Friday.
Last August, Colon told a Spanish radio broadcast that he intended to play in the Dominican Winter League one final time and then officially call it quits.
Colon began his 21-year odyssey in the majors in 1997 with Cleveland and went on to pitch for the Expos, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, Athletics, Mets, Braves, Twins and Rangers. He last pitched in the majors with Texas in 2018.
He had a career record of 247-188 with a 4.12 ERA in 565 games (552 starts). He threw 3,461 2/3 innings with 38 complete games and 13 shutouts, striking out 2,535 batters, walking 948 and posting a 2.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
A four-time All-Star, Colon twice won 20 games in a season. In 2005 and pitching for the Angels, Colon went 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA and won the American League Cy Young Award.
He made 17 postseason appearances (10 starts) and was 3-5 with a 3.49 ERA. He pitched in only one World Series in 2015 with the Mets, who lost to the Kansas City Royals in five games.
On May 7, Colon threw out the first pitch at Citi Field before the game between the Mets and Rockies to mark the seven-year anniversary of his first, and only, MLB home run.
More must-reads: