San Diego
The Mets right-hander ended perhaps the most entertaining — and notorious — homerless streak in baseball history on Saturday when he blasted a two-run shot in the second inning off James Shields.
Colon, 42, the portly cult hero, had come to the plate 246 times in his major-league career and was an .089 hitter with two extra-base hits.
Most of those plate appearances resulted in hijinks with the occasional hint of competence. His at-bats seemingly were made for the animated GIFs that fill the Internet, his helmet-tossing pretzel-turn of a baseball swing perfect fodder for the medium.
Sure, he flashed power in batting practice. In spring training, he triggered a sensation on one quiet morning in camp when he took pitching coach Kevin Long over the leftfield fence in batting practice. It was no wall-scraper, but a towering drive that took out a tree branch well beyond the fence.
Still, doing it in a game seemed beyond the limits of reality. Then it happened.
Colon appeared as uninterested as a passenger waiting for a bus as he looked at Shields’ first two pitches of the at-bat. But he was ready for the third, a 90-mph meatball that hovered over the heart of the plate.
Colon uncorked a quick swing, and the barrel of his bat met the ball. For a moment, he appeared off balance and stunned in the batter’s box as the flight of the ball tracked near a “hit it here” target just beyond the left-field fence.
The ball carried, and carried, and carried. As Colon approached first base — the bat still in his hands — the ball cleared the fence. He had made history, and it was no cheapie.
If the Kentucky Derby is the most exciting two minutes in sports, the most exciting two hours might be a Colon home run trot. At least it seemed that way, judging by the reaction of the Mets in the dugout. Members of the pitching staff flashed grins. Others jumped up and down, moved by a feeling of sheer disbelief.
The oldest active player in the big leagues, Colon became the second-oldest member of the Mets to homer, behind only Julio Franco. Of course, when Colon began his jog around the bases, Franco still was in diapers.
Colon savored the moment(s), making Kirk Gibson on a bad leg look like Usain Bolt. Statcast measured Colon’s journey at 30.6 seconds, though it seemed much longer. Soon after he touched home plate, a boisterous group of Mets fans from the group The 7 Line Army chanted his nickname: “Big Sex-y!” they yelled. “Big Sex-y!”
“The 7 Line Army in rightfield might tear this ballpark down!” Howie Rose exclaimed on WOR radio.
Only three Mets have homered at age 42 or older: Franco, Colon — and Willie Mays.
According to Statcast, the ball came off Colon’s bat at 97 mph and traveled 365 feet. He touched the plate, then returned to an empty dugout soon flooded by teammates.
After the homer, the dugout cleared of players, who retreated to the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. Just as they would treat any rookie after his first homer, they intended to give Colon the silent treatment.
Of course, it would be a while.
After securing his place in the history books — as the oldest player in baseball history to hit his first career homer — Colon was mobbed.
“This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball!” Gary Cohen boomed on the team’s TV broadcast. “Bartolo Colon has gone deep!”
Indeed, there was little arguing the significance.