Bartolo Colon Makes A Triumphant Return To The Mound At Age-50

Bartolo Colon spent a long, long career as one of Major League Baseball’s most popular players.

Colon debuted in the big leagues in 1997, meaning his career overlapped with that of pitcher Dennis Martinez, who was born in 1954. Especially in the later portion of his career, Colon developed a bit of a cult following, thanks to his, shall we say, rather rotund physical appearance and seeming lack of athleticism.

The legend of “Big Sexy” culminated in a miraculous home run in San Diego in 2016, most notable for the fact that he was physically able to complete the home run trot.

Colon officially retired earlier this season, with the New York Mets hosting a retirement ceremony for him at Citi Field. But Colon apparently wasn’t quite ready to shut it down yet.

At the ripe old age of 50, Colon joined the upstart Baseball United league, a Dubai-based league of four teams from around the Middle East and South Asia. Colon started the first ever game in the Baseball United league, and faced down several former major leaguers.

Despite his physical fitness remaining, uh…questionable, Colon retired Robinson Cano, Alejandro De Aza and Didi Gregorious without allowing a runner.

Big Sexy is back.

Bartolo Colon Shows Age Is Just A Number

The fact that Colon managed to get pitchers into the 80’s, despite being literally 50-years-old, is undeniably impressive.

Obviously he’s no longer capable of performing at a major league level, but he still managed three strikeouts against just one walk in three innings in his first Baseball United appearance.

He did allow a few earned runs, but also got some taunting in towards Didi Gregorious after he hit a ball off the wall in the third inning.

Gotta love it.

For a brand new professional baseball league, there are worse ideas than bringing in Bartolo Colon to generate attention and fan interest.