BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…May 7, 2016:
At the age of 42, New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon becomes the oldest player ever to hit his first major league home run when he connects off James Shields in San Diego. Some called it the most unlikely home run in baseball history. The portly Colon’s home run trot had to be one of the longest in history, too, timed at 30 seconds. When he finally returned to the dugout, his teammates were hiding in the tunnel before coming out to mob him. Oh, and Colon improved to 3-1 on the season in the Mets’ 6-3 win over the Padres.
Let’s say that batting was never a priority for Colon. As a three-time All-Star, he had plenty of value as a pitcher and had won the 2005 American League Cy Young Award with the L.A. Angels. Going into his milestone shot against the Padres, Colon’s career average was .089, and he had struck out in more than half of his at-bats. He would swing so hard that his helmet often flew off, providing entertainment to fans of all stripes. Colon went 247-188 in a 21-year MLB career—he pitched his final big league game in 2018 at age 45.
Colon’s quirky record was formerly held by Randy Johnson, who hit the only home run of his career in 2003, shortly after his 40th birthday. The Big Unit’s homer came in an Arizona Diamondbacks game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The 6-10 Johnson is not only the second-oldest big leaguer ever to hit his first dinger, he’s also tied for second as the tallest player ever to homer. Chris Young, also a 6-10 pitcher, knocked one out for the Padres in 2003, while 6-11 hurler Jon Rauch hit his lone home run for the Montreal Expos in 2004.
Johnson was on the other end of another “oldest” record in the home run department. He served up a homer to Julio Franco in 2007—and that made the 48-year-old Franco the oldest player ever to hit one out in the majors. Johnson himself was 43 at the time.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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