Bartolo Colon reportedly was considering retirement shortly after joining the Minnesota Twins this season, but he pulled off something Friday that hadn’t been accomplished in 25 years.
The right-hander is the oldest player in Major League Baseball right now, so he has the potential to set a record pretty much any time he takes the mound. But after throwing a complete game against the Texas Rangers, Colon joined some pretty elite company.
Bartolo Colon is oldest AL pitcher with a complete-game victory of 9 innings or more since Nolan Ryan on July 4, 1992 for TEX vs NYY.
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) August 5, 2017
It certainly wasn’t the flashiest start, as Colon surrendered four runs on nine hits with a walk, a home run and five strikeouts, but it was enough in the Twins’ 8-4 win over the Rangers. Ryan gave up just one earned run on a ninth-inning solo shot and struck out 13 in his start on July 4, 1992, against the New York Yankees, but there’s a reason Ryan is a Hall of Famer.
Colon set a Twins record, too.
At 44 years old, Bartolo Colón is the oldest pitcher in @Twins history to throw a complete game. pic.twitter.com/UWiJYk2gZz
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 5, 2017
Thumbnail photo via Brad Rempel/USA TODAY Sports Images
