Colon to make the Hall of Fame? A fat chance
One of game’s characters has numbers to consider
Bartolo Colon has become a largerthan-life, almost cult-like figure in baseball. His roly-poly body, jolly nature and unusually athletic exploits on the mound and at the plate have made him a favorite of GIF makers everywhere.
But Colon is respected throughout baseball for more than the videos featuring him that have gone viral over the years, whether it was his first career home run in 2016, his behind-the-back toss to first base in 2015 or a play this May when he stopped a line drive to the mound with his ample belly and recovered to get the out.
The 45-year-old Texas Rangers pitcher was in the headlines again this week when he passed Dennis Martinez with his 246th victory to becoming the winningest Latin American-born pitcher in baseball history.
“He’s a great pitcher,” said CC Sabathia, Colon’s former teammate with the Indians and Yankees.
Is he? No. But Colon’s stats are good enough that he is going to get consideration for the Hall of Fame whenever his long career ends — and that consideration may last until Colon is in his 60s (if he’s actually retired by then).
Colon’s career record is 246-186. His ERA is 4.09. He has thrown 3,445⅔ innings and has 2,526 strikeouts. He won the 2005 AL Cy Young award by going 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA for the Angels. He is a four-time All-Star, most recently in 2016, when he went 15-8, 3.43 for the Mets.
Colon hasn’t been a very effective pitcher since that season, pitching to a 6.48 ERA for two teams in 2017 and 6-10 with a 5.18 ERA for the Rangers in 2018. Among the 38 AL pitchers who have thrown enough innings to qualify for the 2018 ERA crown, Colon was 35th going into Friday.
Colon was suspended for 50 games in 2012 (when he was with Oakland) after testing positive for testosterone. He apologized immediately. It doesn’t seem to have hurt his standing or popularity.
Andy Pettitte will be a test case for how today’s voters factor in PED use by an otherwise popular player with loads of postseason success. The vote totals for suspected PED users such as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds have grown over the years, but not enough for those all-time greats to make the Hall.
Colon is not an all-time great. But he is an all-time character. That may count for something, too.
Colon hasn’t given any indication he’s planning to retire. As long as a team needs a strike-thrower and the righthander is physically able, it appears as if he’s going to keep pitching, even though he has already made more than $117 million in his career.
“He can pitch as long as he wants,” Sabathia said. “His arm never hurts. He can throw forever. There’s something to the fat pitchers — we can stay around forever.”