Bartolo's Bomb

Well, it may not have been, as the tweet below claims, "the greatest moment in baseball history", but it was surely surprising and entertaining and it took place 4 years ago today.

Happy 4 year anniversary to the greatest moment in baseball history pic.twitter.com/GXYynCLwms

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 7, 2020

At the time, Bartolo Colon was an aging 43-year old pitcher for the New York Mets who only threw fastballs in the 80-89 mph range.  He was also a big man, 5'11" and at least 285 pounds.  Bartolo survived on pitching wits and guile and was popular with fans and the press.

It wasn't always that way.  Colon entered the majors in 1997 with a blazing fastball, winning 144 games, including 21 in 2005.  The next year his pitching fell apart and Colon went 9-14 over the next four seasons before spending 2010 out of the major leagues.  He resurrected his career in 2011, going on to win another 94 games in the next 8 years before retiring after the 2018 season with 247 career wins.

Bartolo entered the May 7 games with the San Diego Padres having never hit a home run and with a career batting average of .084. In the top of the 2nd, on a 1-1 count Bartolo reached out and slapped a pitch from "Big Game" James Shields and drove it over the wall in left field near the foul line.  I'm sure everyone, including Bartolo was stunned.  The bulky pitcher took his time rounding the bases which is understandable since it was probably the longest continuous run he'd made in years.  His teammates loved it.

And Colon got the win.  Bartolo hurled for 11 franchises during his long career: Indians, Expos, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, A's, Mets, Braves, Twins, Rangers.