The same could be said of Saturday night's Mets/Padres game. Because for all that happened in the game itself, and that the Mets got a sorely-needed 6-3 victory, everything is overshadowed by Bartolo Colon hitting his first Major League Home Run in the 2nd inning.
You could, I suppose, say that this moment has been building since 2014, when Bartolo first arrived with the Mets and put forth At Bats that were, to be kind, unique. It usually involved body parts flailing and helmets flying and strikeouts. But Bartolo worked to get better, and last season had what could be considered a reasonably respectable season for a Pitcher, let alone a 42-year old in comical physical condition who'd spent a majority of his career in the American League. After hitting .032 in 2014, Colon upped his average to .138 in 2015 and even drove in 4 runs.
This season, Colon hadn't found his way on base in the early going, but he did hit a rocket of a foul ball in his last start. For all the work he'd put in as a hitter, his approach still boiled down to swinging hard just in case he made contact. Last night, as we all now know, he did this, made contact on a James Shields pitch and sent it sailing into the Left Field seats at Petco Park. I'd stepped out of the room for a second but fortuitously came back just as Bartolo made contact and, well, Gary Cohen basically shouted himself hoarse telling you everything you needed to know from there.
I don't know, I think every Mets fan, and perhaps most of Baseball spent the rest of the game with this weird doofy Bartolo grin on their faces because this thing that everyone thought was impossible actually happened. But that's the beauty of Baseball. Even Bartolo can hit a Home Run. Whatever else happened in the game was secondary from there. Or at least it was so long as the Mets held their lead, which they did, because when Bartolo Colon hits a Home Run, well, they better win the game.
Let's just watch it again just to make sure.
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