Bartolo Colon retires as a New York Met

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Bartolo Colón. USA Today

By Shawn Stewart

On Sunday afternoon, the New York Mets welcomed back former New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colón to Citi Field where he officially retired as a member of the organization. The festivities were kicked off via a press conference that included Colón and his former manager, Terry Collins. During the conference, Collins explained, “During my tenure here we made some good signs as everybody know and this guy was one of the best.”

New York Mets manager Buck Showalter was also asked about Colón during his pregame press conference and he said, “It wasn’t funny when he was on the other team. It wasn’t fun facing hi and we didn’t have a good time when he pitched, so no I don’t have funny stories about him,” he quipped.

Colón, (50) spent parts of three seasons with the Mets (2014-2016) where he made one All-Star team (2016). Over his Mets’ tenure, he posted a 44-34 record with a 3.90 ERA across 588 2/3 innings. This is the third-most innings he threw with a team over his career, which longed over 21 years and 11 teams.

Colón won 247 games over this 21-year career. He made four All-Star appearances and won a Cy Young back during the 2005 season with the Los Angeles Angels, winning 21 games that season. He threw his first major-league pitch as a 24-year-old in 1997 and ended his career in 2018 at 45.

Bartolo had several memorable moments throughout his career. Some notable Mets’ moments included being apart of the 2015 National League Pennant winning team that lost in the World Series to Kansas City.

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