NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 05: Bartolo Colon #40 of the Atlanta Braves salutes the New York Mets fans as this is his first game as a member of the visiting team in the third inning on April 5, 2017 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

When you think of the most beloved players in New York Mets history, you think of Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, David Wright.

And Bartolo Colon?

According to SNY, Wednesday’s Braves-Mets game, which featured Colon returning to Citi Field in an Atlanta uniform, drew 470,329 viewers, the largest audience of any telecast on the network since the final game at Shea Stadium in 2008.

Colon pitched for the Mets from 2014-16, then signed with the Braves last winter. During his time in Queens, the 43-year-old Colon became some sort of cult hero, and he was greeted with a standing ovation in his return. We knew Bartolo, with his big belly and bad at-bats and ageless success, was an internet meme, but we didn’t know the love was strong enough to affect TV ratings so dramatically.

Other than Bartolo, there was no particular reason for Wednesday’s game to draw such a massive audience. The Braves are not expected to be good, and Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom isn’t even the most exciting hurler on the team’s staff. And Wednesday wasn’t Opening Day. It was the second game of the season.

There’s only one explanation for SNY’s viewership spike. This guy:

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.