At 45-years, and the oldest active MLB player, Bartolo Colón is making baby boomers proud with his high-80s fastballs, two decades deep into his Major League career. He is playing for the Texas Rangers after grabbing a spot during spring training.
Colón landed a lifetime goal, the Juan Marichal all-time record for wins by a Dominican-born pitcher that stood at 243 until he broke it on Thursday, 7 June 2018 in the 8-2 game against the Oakland A’s in Arlington, Texas.
“I feel very happy because I finally got my 243rd win,” Colon told reporters (via MLB.com). “I tied this mark with a Hall of Famer, so I feel very proud and honored to do that. It means a lot because Marichal is Dominican and Marichal was the first ball player from the Dominican Republic to become a Hall of Famer.”
The next record to beat is that of Nicaragua-born Dennis Martínez, who accumulated 245 career victories, which is currently the most wins by any Latin American pitcher. Colon is also close to joining the prestigious club of MLB pitchers with 2,500 career strikeouts.
Colón has pitched with many Major League teams. He began his career in a game on 4 April 1997 pitching for the Cleveland Indians (1997-2002). Next he moved on to the Montreal Expos (2002), Chicago Sox (2003, 2009), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2004-2007), Boston Red Sox (2008), New York Yankees (2011), Oakland Athletics (2013), New York Mets (2014-2016), Atlanta Braves (2017), Minnesota Twins (2017) and now Texas Rangers (2018).
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Sporting News
11 June 2018
