Bartolo Colón officially retires with Mets after 21-year playing career: What’s his legacy?

Big Sexy officially hung ’em up.

Fan favorite Bartolo Colón, who hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2018, retired as a New York Met on Sunday in an event at Citi Field. Here’s what you need to know:

Colón, 50, won the American League Cy Young Award in 2005 with the Los Angeles Angels.
The four-time All-Star pitched for 11 teams over his 21-year career, including a three-season stint with the Mets from 2014-2016.
Amid those three New York years came one of Colón’s most iconic moments: his first and only career home run. “Bartolo has done it. The impossible has happened!” Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen famously said after the 2016 feat.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Why the Mets?

Colón pitched just three of his 21 seasons with the Mets, spending more time in Cleveland where he debuted and Anaheim where he won his Cy Young. He had more effective seasons in Oakland and the south side of Chicago. But there was something ineffable about the way Colón and the Mets fan base connected.

Colón attributed it to his early flails as a hitter in the National League; he eventually asked the team’s equipment manager to make his batting helmet bigger so it would fall off even more often during his more aggressive swings. It’s also where he earned his nickname of “Big Sexy,” bestowed by fellow right-hander Noah Syndergaard.

Bartolo signed some of the shirts for today’s giveaway – keep an eye out for an autograph on yours! 👀
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 17, 2023

“This was the fan base that accepted me the most and supported me the most,” he said Sunday. “That’s why I’m most comfortable here.” — Britton

What is Colón’s legacy with the Mets?

While his home run in San Diego and his behind-the-back flip in Miami were his most memorable moments, one shouldn’t overlook the consistency Colón brought to the hill for a team learning swiftly how to be a contender. On a staff filled with young guns, Colón provided a high quantity of quality innings. Terry Collins recalled a game Colón went deep without good stuff to save his bullpen — the kind of thing he did regularly. His heavy diet of two-seamers played well in the middle of a rotation packed with hard throwers, and it’s easy to forget Colón was the club’s Opening Day starter in its pennant-winning 2015 season and an All-Star as a 43-year-old in 2016.

On Sunday, he credited that two-seamer to a conversation he’d had with Greg Maddux in the mid-1990s. A pure power pitcher at that time, Colón eventually mastered that Maddux two-seamer that he could throw anywhere for a strike.

“He could go through a lineup three times with one pitch,” Collins said. “Command the fastball. That was his art.” — Britton

GO DEEPER

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Backstory

Colón entered the league in 1997 with Cleveland. He owns a career 4.12 ERA over 552 starts and 3,461 2/3 innings pitched, winning 21 games during his Cy Young campaign while putting up a 3.48 ERA and 1.159 WHIP.

Colón, who was suspended 50 games in 2012 after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting as recently as 2013, when he was with the Oakland Athletics. He went 44-34 with a 3.90 ERA for the Mets during his age-41 through age-43 seasons.

Colón made 11 starts in the Mexican League in 2021, going 6-2 with a 4.84 ERA.