22-Year MLB Veteran, Former Cy Young, 4x All-Star Pitcher to Retire
Four-time Major League Baseball All-Star, 2005 American League Cy Young Award winner and 22-year veteran pitcher Bartolo Colon is finally calling it a career.
Colon, 49, hasn't pitched in a Major League game since 2018, when he logged a 7-12 record, 5.78 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 24 starts with the Texas Rangers.
Colon then went unsigned as a free agent and didn't pitch anywhere in 2019. He signed with Aceros de Monclova of the Mexican League for the 2020 season. However, due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, the Mexican League cancelled its season and Colon once again didn't pitch.
In 2021, Colon made 11 starts for the Mexican club, posting a 6-2 record, 4.55 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.
Saturday, he was in New York for the Mets' Old Timer's Day.
Before the game, he spoke with Spanish broadcast Johnny Trujillo about his plans to retire after pitching one more winter league season, this time in the Dominican Republic.
"God-willing, I would like to pitch a couple of games [with Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League] so I can say goodbye to the game of baseball and to all those Dominican fans, because they deserve it,” Colon said.
Over a very fruitful 22-year Major League career, Colon pitched for 11 different teams — the Cleveland Indians (1997-2002), Montreal Expos (2002), Chicago White Sox (2003, 2009), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2004-2007), Boston Red Sox (2008), New York Yankees (2011), Oakland Athletics (2012-2013), New York Mets (2014-2016), Atlanta Braves (2017), Minnesota Twins (2017) and Texas Rangers (2018) — made four All-Star appearances, won the 2005 American League Cy Young, and finished top-6 in Cy Young voting three other times.
Colon won the 2005 AL Cy Young as a member of the Angels, winning 21 games and logging a 3.48 ERA. As a member of the 2015 Mets, Colon pitched in the World Series.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of his career though came when 'Big Sexy' hit a home run off James Shields at Petco Park in May 2016.
Colon retires with a 4.12 ERA and 247 career wins, tied with Jack Quinn for 50th all-time in Major League history.
