Bartolo Colón’s 1st career home run gave announcers plenty to chew on

Bartolo Colón is a physical enigma. He’s pitched in three decades and there’s no doubting that he could go into a fourth. He’s the last active player from the Montreal Expos era and while his recorded age is 42, there’s many who feel Colón is probably closer to 50. No matter, he still pitches effectively and now, we can call him a home run hitter. Yes, in a career dating back to 1997 when he first began with Cleveland, Colón had never hit a home run, until Saturday in San Diego.

The big guy was at bat when he got a hold of a pitch by San Diego’s James Shields and pulled it down the left field line in Petco Park for a two-run home run. It shocked everyone from SNY’s Gary Cohen who called it one of the greatest moments in baseball history to Howie Rose on WOR who said, “Repeating … Bartolo Colón has just hit a home run,” to Spanish language announcers Juan Alicea and Max Perez Jimenez on WEPN who gave it a great “Hasta la vista, baby,” to Don Orsillo on Fox Sports San Diego.

To say it was a shocking moment is a true understatement. And the Mets gave the traditional silent treatment for someone who hits his first career home run. It was classic and we have all five calls of the moment:

It shows you that if you think you’ve seen everything, you really haven’t. And the home run took Twitter for a spin:

Whoever called the Kentucky Derby the greatest two minutes in sports hasn't seen Bartolo Colon's home run trot.

— Ted Berg (@OGTedBerg) May 8, 2016

I've never felt like I was missing out on something while at dinner more than I do right now with this Bartolo Colon home run.

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) May 8, 2016

No home run will be as shocking or take as long as Colón to round the bases.