Say what you will about Bartolo Colon, but you can’t take anything away from him, especially the fact that he was a very successful and durable pitcher in his tenure with the New York Mets.
And while he may be about to finish his playing career – after all, he is going to turn 47 this week – he would like to play at least one more time with the Mets.
“If it was up to me, I would retire with the Mets,” Colon said on a video call with ESPN. “I would like my career to end in New York.”
“Big Sexy” loves the Mets
Colon was a member of the New York Mets roster that went to the World Series in 2015. He was with the team from 2014 to 2016, and he has nothing but good memories.
“That Mets team was really something special,” Colon told ESPN. “I’ve played with 10 teams, but with the Mets, the way all those players treated me, how that entire franchise treated me, from the front office to the kitchen staff, it was amazing. And Mets fans are the best. In the beginning, when they laughed at me every time my helmet fell off, at first I felt uncomfortable. But when I saw how much the fans enjoyed it, I asked for a bigger batting helmet so that it would fall more because it was so much fun for them!”
Overall, his career with the Mets can be considered a success: he posted a 3.90 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 588.2 frames, starting 95 games in those three years. He was a dependable arm and the fans grew fond of “Big Sexy.”
Certainly, with Noah Syndergaard out for the season with Tommy John surgery, the Mets could use some depth behind the backend of the rotation, occupied by the injury-prone Michael Wacha and the inconsistent Rick Porcello.