Bartolo Colon
The ageless wonder's 2016 home run at age 42 remains one of baseball's purest moments of joy, but that swing overshadowed a remarkable longevity story. Colon threw 3,461 innings across 21 seasons, reinventing himself from a power pitcher who won the 2005 Cy Young into a crafty veteran who squeezed value from every ounce of guile.
His 2013 resurrection with Oakland proved most impressive — an 18-6 record with a 2.65 ERA at age 40, good for a 146 ERA+. That season exemplified Colon's late-career mastery: pinpoint command, changing speeds, and an uncanny ability to induce weak contact. He parlayed that excellence into five more productive seasons, proving that baseball IQ can triumph over Father Time.
The portly right-hander's 247 wins and 2,535 strikeouts tell only part of the story. Colon represented baseball's immigrant dream realized, a Dominican kid who became a folk hero through sheer persistence and an infectious love for the game.
Career · Hitting
21 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | CLE | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 1998 | CLE | 31 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .500 | 1.000 | 132 |
| 1999 | CLE | 32 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .286 | 37 |
| 2000 | CLE | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2001 | CLE | 34 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .286 | 38 |
| 2002 | MON | 33 | 45 | 0 | 3 | .133 | .282 | 38 |
| 2003 | CWS | 34 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2004 | LAA | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2005 | LAA | 33 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .667 | 89 |
| 2006 | LAA | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2007 | LAA | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2008 | BOS | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2009 | CWS | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2011 | NYY | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2012 | ATH | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2013 | ATH | 30 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2014 | NYM | 31 | 62 | 0 | 0 | .032 | .081 | 12 |
| 2015 | NYM | 33 | 58 | 0 | 4 | .138 | .305 | 42 |
| 2016 | NYM | 34 | 60 | 1 | 2 | .083 | .265 | 36 |
| 2017 | ATL | 28 | 19 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2018 | TEX | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| Career | 565 | 299 | 1 | 11 | .084 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
21 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | CLE | 19 | 94.0 | 4 | 7 | 5.65 | 78 | 66 | 1.617 |
| 1998 | CLE | 31 | 204.0 | 14 | 9 | 3.71 | 119 | 158 | 1.392 |
| 1999 | CLE | 32 | 205.0 | 18 | 5 | 3.95 | 119 | 161 | 1.273 |
| 2000 | CLE | 30 | 188.0 | 15 | 8 | 3.88 | 123 | 212 | 1.388 |
| 2001 | CLE | 34 | 222.3 | 14 | 12 | 4.09 | 108 | 201 | 1.394 |
| 2002 | MON | 33 | 233.3 | 20 | 8 | 2.93 | 146 | 149 | 1.239 |
| 2003 | CWS | 34 | 242.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.87 | 113 | 173 | 1.198 |
| 2004 | LAA | 34 | 208.3 | 18 | 12 | 5.01 | 89 | 158 | 1.373 |
| 2005 | LAA | 33 | 222.7 | 21 | 8 | 3.48 | 123 | 157 | 1.159 |
| 2006 | LAA | 10 | 56.3 | 1 | 5 | 5.11 | 88 | 31 | 1.456 |
| 2007 | LAA | 19 | 99.3 | 6 | 8 | 6.34 | 70 | 76 | 1.621 |
| 2008 | BOS | 7 | 39.0 | 4 | 2 | 3.92 | 110 | 27 | 1.385 |
| 2009 | CWS | 12 | 62.3 | 3 | 6 | 4.19 | 103 | 38 | 1.444 |
| 2011 | NYY | 29 | 164.3 | 8 | 10 | 4.00 | 98 | 135 | 1.290 |
| 2012 | ATH | 24 | 152.3 | 10 | 9 | 3.43 | 117 | 91 | 1.208 |
| 2013 | ATH | 30 | 190.3 | 18 | 6 | 2.65 | 146 | 117 | 1.166 |
| 2014 | NYM | 31 | 202.3 | 15 | 13 | 4.09 | 91 | 151 | 1.226 |
| 2015 | NYM | 33 | 194.7 | 14 | 13 | 4.16 | 95 | 136 | 1.238 |
| 2016 | NYM | 34 | 191.7 | 15 | 8 | 3.43 | 122 | 128 | 1.210 |
| 2017 | MIN | 28 | 143.0 | 7 | 14 | 6.48 | 67 | 89 | 1.587 |
| 2018 | TEX | 28 | 146.3 | 7 | 12 | 5.78 | 72 | 81 | 1.346 |
| Career | 565 | 3461.4 | 247 | 188 | — | — | 2535 | — | |
Each pitch type this pitcher throws regularly, placed by how the ball moves — sideways break across, rise or drop down the side. Each dotted ring holds about the middle 85% of the league’s pitches of that type, so a cluster sitting outside its ring is movement most pitchers don’t have.
The dots — a sample of this pitcher’s regular-season pitches, placed by movement: left–right is horizontal break, up–down is induced vertical break (what the pitch does beyond gravity). The view is handedness-neutral — positive break is toward the pitcher’s arm side for lefties and righties alike, so every sinker runs right and every sweeper breaks left, whoever throws it.
The dotted rings — about the middle 85% of where each pitch type lands league-wide (a 2-standard-deviation spread), measured from 7.5 million regular-season pitches since 2015. A cluster sitting well outside its ring is movement most of the league doesn’t get. Spring training and the postseason are excluded.
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.