Baltimore Orioles: Reflecting on Bartolo Colon Day

Today marks the fourth anniversary of a home run that will go down in infamy. And, even though it has nothing to do with the Baltimore Orioles, it was such an anomaly that we’re going to look at the player who accomplished it (and his unusual record against the O’s).

There is a chance that May 7 could end up unofficially being called Bartolo Colon Day, as four years ago Big Sexy hit his very first professional home run a few days before turning 43 (one of his many records tied to his longevity in baseball). He was pitching for the Mets and hit it off of James Shields of the Padres. For baseball fans – even Baltimore Orioles fans – that was a shot that won’t be forgotten for many years to come.

So, what were the Orioles doing on that fateful day? Surprisingly, playing a double-header against the Oakland A’s. After a rain delay on Friday, May 6, Orioles fans got a day of double baseball with a day-game loss and a night-game win.

Chris Davis hit a home run with Adam Jones on base in the night game. Ironically, it is Davis who has had success hitting off of Colon. His line off of Big Sexy is an impressive .385/.500/.692 in 13 at-bats. He hit a home run off of him in 2009 when Davis was with the Rangers and Colon was with the White Sox. The last time they faced each other was on May 5, 2015. Davis struck out twice and hit a single, which also moved Jones. Colon was with the Mets.

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Colon has been in baseball for so long that he faced Rafael Palmeiro in 1998, 2004, and 2005. In 1998, Palmeiro hit two fly balls and earned a walk against Colon. In 2005, Palmeiro went 0-4, but in 2004, he went yard on the pitcher.

Another former Oriole who saw Colon often was Nick Markakis. During his time with the O’s, Markakis hit three doubles and several singles off the veteran pitcher. His only home run off of Colon came in 2016. Overall, Markakis hit .246/.271/.404.

Colon played for several teams throughout his lengthy career. By doing this, he has one notable record against the Orioles: he earned a win against the O’s with seven different teams. Prior to this, the record was with six different teams. Between 1997 and 2018, Colon played for 11 teams.

Colon has not yet officially retired from baseball, but he has not played in the MLB since 2018. He is still consider the oldest active professional MLB player – being born in 1973. There’s also Fernando Rodney, who was born in 1977, but is also not on a roster for 2020. Of active players, Albert Pujols is the oldest with his 1980 birthday. No surprise here, but Chris Davis, at age 35, is the oldest active Oriole.