Legend of Bartolo grows larger with age

Baseball’s oldest player turns 43 today, and Bartolo Colon’s career would be enthralling enough if sheer longevity were his only calling card.

But of course, Big Bart — or Big Sexy, if you prefer — has given us so much more. The lost helmets. The belly jiggle. The fascinating fielding prowess. And of course, the shocking shot heard ’round the world.

You combine the longevity with a body atypical for an athlete and the many GIFable moments that have dotted this late stage of his career, and the game’s oldest player doubles as its most colorful cult figure.

Not all color is good color, as we’ve seen. The recent reports about Colon’s personal life and his past transgression within baseball’s performance-enhancing drug protocol mean his is a career that has come with its share of controversy. And though you certainly wouldn’t have known it watching him work seven sharp innings in a win over the Nationals on the eve of his birthday, he’ll have the occasional outing that causes people to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the man’s magic at the Major League level is finally wearing thin.

That said, the captivation that surrounds his each and every trip to the mound or the plate is undeniable. And the story of a guy who signed for $3,000 out of the Dominican Republic, became the centerpiece of one of this century’s biggest trades, won a Cy Young, retreated into the wilderness and then returned to become a social-media phenomenon is an amazing one.

Which is why — for his birthday — we traced it back to the beginning.

Winston Llenas, the Indians scout who signed Colon: Virgilio Veras, an old birdog who worked for us, knew Bartolo and brought him to me. What really stood out for me was the fact that he always threw strikes. Even though he was not muscular at all, he was always ready and eager to pitch. He never showed signs of fatigue or had arm problems. Our field coordinator, Minnie Mendoza, was always looking for arms and was always requesting this young, skinny kid who was always wearing a red shirt. Mendoza kept using him because he really liked his control.

Jim Gabella, Colon’s first Minor League manager at rookie-level Burlington: Such a great kid. Always had a smile on his face, and he worked hard. And he was strong as an ox. You put your hand on his shoulder, and it was like you were putting it on a brick wall.

Mark Shapiro, then-Indians farm director: Fernando Montes, our trainer, said his lower back and his legs were as strong as any NFL fullback’s. It was clear, from the time he was in the Dominican to the Appalachian League, that the ball out of his hand was just different from anybody else’s.

Tony Arnold, Colon’s pitching coach at Class A Kinston: I would flip him the ball before each start. He would catch the ball and give me a velocity. He would set a velocity for the game. If he said 92, he would sit at 92. One time, it was 93. The next it might be 94. So one time, he told me 98. He had touched it before, but I was like, “Oh, come on…” But then I realized [general manager] John Hart was coming into town, and Bartolo knew it. He started the game that day, struck out the side in the first inning with one foul ball, and every pitch was 98 mph. Then the first hitter of the second inning, the first pitch was a breaking ball, and then he struck him out on two fastballs. He sat 98. Thank God a storm came up and rained us out so he didn’t get to go back out.

Jeff Datz, Colon’s manager at Double-A Canton-Akron: There was a hot Sunday day game against the Reading Phillies. Bartolo was dealing, After the Phillies hit in the eighth, I went out to coach third base. Their third baseman, Scott Rolen, says to me, ‘That’s not fair. Ninety-eight on the black, in the eighth?” He had just struck out. Bartolo was a horse.

Arnold: Any time he was put against somebody else in doing whatever the conditioning was for the day, he would step up and blow them away. People were always amazed at what he had inside of him.

Colon missed some of the 1996 season with a strained elbow ligament and ended that year pitching out of the Triple-A Buffalo bullpen. His big league debut came on April 4, 1997, at Angel Stadium, opposite an Anaheim Angels team managed by none other than Terry Collins. It didn’t go particularly well. Colon was roughed up for four runs on six hits with three walks over five innings in an 8-6 loss for the Tribe and spent the season shuttling back and forth from the Minors.

Indians catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.: He had power, a lot of power, and the secondary was not developed yet. But he liked his secondary. He didn’t understand he needed to use his fastball, because it was 100 mph.

With the big fastball came big attention, and Colon didn’t always adapt to it well. When he was in the Indians’ winter development program in Cleveland, he stayed with Allen Davis, the club’s director of community relations, and the two remained close when Colon reached the Majors. Davis has since become the Rev. Abraham Allende, a Lutheran bishop.

Allende: He was very sensitive. He was in a strange country and didn’t really understand a lot of the customs here. And he was sensitive to criticism.

Shapiro: He was always an understated guy that kind of gravitated away from the spotlight. Bartolo was a guy you’d always find on the back fields with Minor League players during Spring Training, because that’s where he was comfortable.

Alomar: Bartolo had to ride the pink bike one spring. That was Fernando Montas’ thing. A lot of guys who were overweight used it. It was a bike without a saddle. And you had to ride it around the complex and embarrass yourself a little bit. That’s why you had to maintain yourself the right way. The thing is, you look at Bartolo’s body then? I’d take that body now [laughs]. That’s how bizarre that is. He wasn’t huge, but …

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