History maker Bartolo Colon does something he’s never done before
There are a lot of words you could use to describe Bartolo Colon’s 2016 season. Weird. Wonderful. Strange. Fantastic. Mind-blowing. Awesome. Improbable. The list goes on and on. No matter what words you use, you shouldn’t leave out history, because that’s what the New York Mets pitcher keeps on making. On May 7, he hit his first career home run, and became the oldest Major Leaguer to do it. And on Monday, August 15, after 281 plate appearances, he did something else for the very first time.
He drew a walk. *cue fireworks*
It was the fourth inning of the Mets’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colon was facing pitcher Robbie Ray with a runner on first base. Colon laid off the first pitch, which came in somewhere around forehead height. He swung at the second pitch so hard he nearly came out of his shoes, and he took a break on the third pitch, which was called a ball.
The count was 2-1, two balls away from Bartolo history. He fouled off the fourth pitch and sent it toward the third base side, and did the exact same thing with the fifth pitch. The sixth pitch was inside and Colon didn’t offer, so the count was a full 3-2. The Mets’ broadcast booth was on it right away. Said Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen: “You might be witnessing history, don’t touch that dial!”
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And we were witnessing history. On the seventh and final pitch of the at-bat, Robbie Ray threw Colon a pitch up and out of the zone, and Colon trotted to first base for the very first time in his 19-year career. Ray issuing that walk apparently warranted a visit from the Diamondbacks’ pitching coach, and Ray’s teammates aren’t likely to let him forget that walk for a long time. Especially in light of this post-game quote that MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez got from Colon:
“I was surprised, too,” Colon said. “The pitcher didn’t strike me out because he didn’t want to. I couldn’t make a swing because of my hand. My [left] wrist has been bothering me for a long time.”
Despite the walk (and the RBI single that Jose Reyes scored right after), Colon didn’t have his best stuff on Monday night, and the Mets lost 10-6 to the Diamondbacks. If Colon had won, he would have become the 18th pitcher to beat all 30 MLB teams. But even without that, Colon made history. From Cut4:
Colon’s 281 plate appearances without a walk were the most ever — surpassing Tracy Stallard’s 258 plate appearances without one back in the 1960s.
And there’s this:
Don't worry, guys. Bartolo Colon still has the most career PA with only one walk. He takes over the all-time lead from Pat Rapp.
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) August 16, 2016
There are seven weeks left in the MLB season, plenty of time for Bartolo to make even more history. Considering how he’s surprised everyone this season, there’s no telling what else he might do.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
