Ten years ago Thursday, Bartolo Colón took one of the greatest swings in baseball history.
O.K., maybe not. But it is certainly among the most memorable of the last decade.
On May 7, 2016, Colón—42 years old at the time—started his sixth game of the season for the Mets, a Saturday evening tilt on a beautiful night at Petco Park in San Diego. The night began how many Colón starts went over the years. He retired all three Padres he faced in the bottom of the first inning, and after the Mets sent eight hitters up in the first two frames, Colón dug into the batter’s box with two outs in the second.
Colón stepped up to the plate that night with batting stats so bad they might not be safe for work. He was 0-for-9 with six strikeouts to start the 2016 campaign. Over the first 17 seasons of his career, Colón owned a .093/.100/.102 slash line with just 20 total hits in 237 plate appearances. Just two of those 20 hits went for extra bases, and both were later in his career—a double in 2014 and another in ’15.
That “power surge” Colón found in his early 40s rolled into that fateful night in 2016.
Shields, working a 1–1 count, fired in a 90-mph fastball right down the heart of the plate. “Big Sexy” tossed the barrel of the bat at the ball and, yes, the impossible happened.
“It’s outta here! Bartolo has done it!” the Mets’ announcer said on the broadcast. The impossible has happened!”
10 years ago today, the impossible happened.@BColon40 | #LGM pic.twitter.com/hHbvLqiSbP
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 7, 2026
If you can’t believe it’s been 10 years, you’re not alone. Colón had the same thoughts.
It’s really been that long 😅😅
— Bartolo Colón (@BColon40) May 7, 2026
Colón, who was a four-time All-Star pitcher (including that year in 2016) and won the 2005 AL Cy Young award, called that swing “the biggest moment in my career.”
"We all kind of said, 'What would we do if Bartolo hit a home run?'” Mets second baseman Neil Walker said that night. “That made everyone's career to witness that."
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Fun facts to know about Bartolo Colón’s improbable home run and batting career
- Colón became the oldest player in MLB history to hit his first career home run at the age of 42, surpassing Randy Johnson, who mashed the only dinger of his career for the Diamondbacks in 2003 at the age of 39.
- At 42 years and 349 days old, Colón is the fifth-oldest pitcher to homer in a big league game behind Jack Quinn (46 years old in 1930), Dazzy Vance (43 in 1934), Phil Niekro (43 in 1982) and Warren Spahn (43 in 1964). Spahn ranks third all time in homers by a pitcher with 35.
- Along with his one homer, Colón also tallied exactly one walk as a hitter over his career. That box was also checked off in 2016 in an August tilt against the Diamondbacks. Robbie Ray (who would go on to win the NL Cy Young award the following season) issued the free pass.
- Among players in MLB history with at least 300 plate appearances, Colón has the worst on-base percentage (.092; tied with Charlie Morton), the 10th-fewest total hits (25) and the 12th-worst career batting average (.084).
- In the live ball era (since 1920) are 531 players in MLB history with 300+ plate appearances and exactly one home run.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Remembering Bartolo Colón’s Home Run, the Most Improbable Swing of the Last Decade.
