Pitcher, Los
Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Age: 32 (May 24)
2nd season
with Angels
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’11” Weight: 185
Prior to 2005:
A native of the
town of Altamira in the Dominican Republic, Colon learned baseball from his
father and grew strong working in the fields. He drew attention as a youth
league pitcher of large size who lied to suggest that he was two years younger
than his actual age. Colon signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1993. In his
first professional action in the Dominican Summer League in 1994 he produced a
6-1 record with a 2.59 ERA. Moving on to Burlington of the short-season
Appalachian League he was 7-4 with a 3.14 ERA and 84 strikeouts over the course
of 66 innings pitched. Colon moved on to Kinston of the Class A Carolina League
in 1995 and was honored as the league’s Pitcher of the Year after compiling a
13-3 record with a 1.96 ERA and 152 strikeouts over 128.2 innings pitched
although his season was cut short by a bruised elbow. He started out the 1996
season in the Class AA Eastern League before being quickly promoted to the
Buffalo Bisons of the Class AAA American Association where a recurrence of the
elbow injury knocked him out of action for six weeks. Following an outstanding
stint in the Dominican Winter League Colon moved back and forth between Buffalo
and the Indians in 1997. He was 7-1 with a 2.22 ERA in 10 Class AAA starts that
included a no-hitter and 4-7 with a 5.65 ERA with Cleveland. Most
significantly, he had no injury problems. With his outstanding fastball Colon
broke out with a 14-9 record and 3.71 ERA for the Indians in 1998, garnering
his first All-Star selection. He also went the distance in a win over the
Yankees in the ALCS. He followed up with an 18-5 tally and 3.95 ERA in 1999,
when he was one of only seven AL starting pitchers to register an ERA under
4.00 and he placed fourth in the league’s Cy Young Award voting. Colon won his
last 6 decisions after a slow start due to injury in 2000 to end up at 15-8
with a 3.88 ERA and 212 strikeouts. In
2001 he was 14-12 with a 4.09 ERA and 201 strikeouts. Colon started the 2002
season with the Indians and was 10-4 with a 2.55 ERA before being traded to the
Montreal Expos in June. He was 10-4 again the rest of the way with the Expos to
give him a combined record of 20-8 with a 2.93 ERA and 149 strikeouts. He
placed sixth in NL Cy Young Award balloting. With the Expos in financial trouble
they dealt Colon to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason. He was 15-13 with
the White Sox in 2003, with a 3.87 ERA and 9 complete games as he compiled a
career-high 242 innings pitched. A free agent after the season, Colon signed a
four-year $51 million contract with the Angels. Overweight and out of shape entering
into the 2004 season, he had a strong second half to finish at 18-12 with a
5.01 ERA and 158 strikeouts.
2005 Season Summary
Appeared in 33
games
[Bracketed numbers
indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 33
Games Started –
33 [8, tied with nine others]
Complete Games
– 2 [10, tied with fifteen others]
Wins – 21 [1]
Losses – 8
PCT - .724 [3]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 0
Innings Pitched
– 222.2 [7]
Hits – 215 [15]
Runs – 93
Earned Runs – 86
Home Runs – 26
[12, tied with four others]
Bases on Balls
– 43
Strikeouts – 157
[8, tied with Daniel Cabrera]
ERA – 3.48 [8]
Hit Batters – 3
Balks – 1 [12,
tied with many others]
Wild Pitches –
2
League-leading wins
were +3 ahead of runners-up Jon Garland & Cliff Lee
Midseason
Snapshot: 11-5, ERA - 3.42, SO - 89 in 123.2 IP
---
Most strikeouts,
game – 11 (in 6 IP) at Boston 6/4
10+ strikeout
games – 1
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 7.1 IP) at Minnesota 5/1, (in 7 IP) at
Oakland 4/15
Batting
PA – 3, AB – 3,
R – 0, H – 1, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 1, BB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG
- .333, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 24
Put Outs – 8
Assists – 16
Errors – 0
DP – 0
Pct. - 1.000
Postseason Pitching:
G – 2 (ALDS vs.
NY Yankees, did not appear in ALCS)
GS – 2, CG – 0,
Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 8, H – 10, R – 4, ER – 4, HR –
0, BB – 2, SO – 7, HB – 1, BLK – 0, WP – 0, ERA – 4.50
Awards & Honors:
AL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
AL Pitcher of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
23rd
in AL MVP voting, tied with Grady Sizemore, Clev. (3 points, 1% share)
AL Cy Young
voting (Top 5):
Bartolo Colon,
LAA: 118 pts. – 17 of 28 first place votes, 84% share
Mariano Rivera,
NYY: 68 pts. – 8 first place votes, 49% share
Johan Santana,
Min.: 51 pts. – 3 first place votes, 36% share
Cliff Lee,
Clev.: 8 pts. – 6% share
Mark Buehrle,
ChiWS: 5 pts., 4% share
---
Angels went 95-67
to finish first in the AL Western Division by 7 games over the Oakland
Athletics. The pitching staff led the league in saves (54) and strikeouts
(1126). Won ALDS over the New York Yankees, 3 games to 2. Lost ALCS to the Chicago
White Sox, 4 games to 1.
Aftermath of ‘05:
Suffering from
a partial rotator cuff tear in 2006 Colon was limited to 10 games and produced
a 1-5 record with a 5.11 ERA. Upon his return in 2007 he was forced to begin
the transition from power pitcher to finesse pitcher with good control. His
record was a mediocre 6-8 with a 6.34 ERA. He signed a free agent contract with
the Boston Red Sox for 2008 and split the season between the Red Sox and
Pawtucket of the Class AAA International League. His minor league record was
3-1 with a 2.27 ERA, while with Boston he went 4-2 with a 3.92 ERA in 7 starts.
Colon returned to the White Sox as a free agent for $1 million in 2009 where he
was hindered by a knee injury and spent time in the minors on rehab assignment before
being released in September following a 3-6 record and 4.19 ERA. He sat out the
2010 season due to shoulder issues and received a stem cell transplant. Following
a successful winter league stint, Colon signed with the New York Yankees for
2011. Utilized initially as a reliever, he soon moved into the starting
rotation and produced an 8-10 record with a 4.00 ERA. Colon next joined the
Oakland Athletics, receiving $2 million for one year. He went 10-9 in 24 starts
with a 3.43 ERA until August when he was suspended for 50 games for use of a
performance-enhancing substance. He returned to the A’s in 2013 and was 18-6
with a 2.65 ERA and registered 3 shutouts. In addition to being an All-Star he
finished sixth in AL Cy Young Award voting. In the offseason Colon signed a
two-year, $20 million contract with the New York Mets. Turning 41 during the
2014 season Colon, who, now weighing 285 pounds, was nicknamed “Big Sexy”, turned
in a solid campaign with a 15-13 record and 4.09 ERA in 31 starts. Colon’s 2015
season with the Mets was highlighted by a 32.2 scoreless innings streak. He
finished with a 14-13 tally and 4.16 ERA. In the postseason he became the
oldest pitcher to lose a World Series game at age 42 in a Game 1 relief
appearance against the Royals. Colon spent one more season with the Mets in 2016,
producing a 15-8 record with a 3.43 ERA and he was named as an All-Star for the
fourth time in his career. As a batter he hit his first major league home run,
making him the oldest player in major league history to do so. Colon spent 2017
with the Atlanta Braves, who released him in July after having gotten off to a
2-8 start with an 8.14 ERA, and the Minnesota Twins, where he produced a 5-6
record and 5.18 ERA over the second half of the season. Moving on to the Texas
Rangers in 2018, Colon went 7-12 with a 5.78 ERA over the course of 146.1 innings
pitched. Overall for his major league career through 2018 Colon has produced a
247-188 record with a 4.12 ERA and 2535 strikeouts. With the Angels he was
46-33 with a 4.66 ERA and 422 strikeouts. He has been a four-time All-Star,
once with the Angels. Utilizing skill and guile, his career lasted far longer
than the power behind his fastball.
--
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.
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