Bartolo Colon's Mets chapter almost done - but they'll never forget him

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

ST. LOUIS - He's the godfather of the young, insanely talented New York Mets pitching staff, talking to them every day, offering advice, listening to their problems and even buying them clothes.

Now, time is running out for Bartolo Colon.

Colon, 42, knows that in a couple of months his time in New York is coming to an end.

The Mets won't need him after this season, not with their dazzling array of starting pitching, but he hopes to pitch for someone and will keep going until 30 teams stop calling.

"I have so much fun in this game, I'll pitch until someone comes and takes the uniform off me," Colon said. "And I've had so much fun here. I'm proud of them. Hopefully I've helped them get better, too."

The Mets have the finest young pitching talent in the game: Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and injured Steven Matz (torn side muscle) and Zack Wheeler (Tommy John elbow surgery). John Smoltz calls it a more talented staff than the Atlanta Braves' Hall of Fame rotation that included Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.

OK, that might be hyperbole, but Colon says it's the best staff he has been part of since his Cleveland Indians days with CC Sabathia, Charles Nagy, Jake Westbrook, Jaret Wright and Dave Burba.

"They have so much talent, especially when Matz and Wheeler come back," Colon says. "They'll be very, very good for a long time."

The Mets, after a pulsating 3-1, 18-inning victory Sunday vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, will be put to the litmus test beginning Monday with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals. The Mets, who trail the Nationals by two games in the NL East, are going with their best — Harvey, deGrom and Syndergaard — and if they can't make up ground, maybe they'll be better off waiting until the offseason to find offense, then going for the gold in 2016.

"We'll know a whole lot more about ourselves by the end of the week," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We know we've got a tough road ahead."

Yet no matter if the Mets hang around or fade by September, no matter how many Cy Young awards or 20-win seasons this staff produces, they vow Colon will never be forgotten.

"All of us would love to play with him for the rest of our careers," Harvey said. "He's meant that much to us. But whenever he decides to hang it up, we'll remember it very well and what we learned from him. We're all better pitchers because of him."

Colon, of course, doesn't have too many seasons left. He was signed by the Indians in 1993, when some of his current teammates were in diapers. He has the second-most victories by an active pitcher (213), trailing only Tim Hudson of the San Francisco Giants, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle is the only one with more than Colon's eight 200-inning seasons.

You look at his résumé, and he is six victories behind Pedro Martinez and 30 behind his idol, Juan Marichal, for the most wins by a Dominican-born pitcher.

Since serving a 50-game suspension for a positive testosterone test in 2012 — after which the Oakland Athletics gladly took him back — Colon has rumbled on, winning 42 games against 27 losses and posting a 3.71 ERA.

Colon, in the final year of a two-year, $20 million contract, won't be in the Hall of Fame like Marichal and Martinez, but the value he provided to the Mets staff, and the other eight teams he played with during his 17-year career, can hardly be measured by the back of his bubble-gum card.

"He's meant everything to me," said Mets closer Jeurys Familia, whose 27 saves by the All-Star break were the most in club history. "He's taught me everything. He talks to me about baseball, how to be a major leaguer, everything. When I do something wrong, he'll show me the right thing. I owe him so much."

Familia grew up in the Dominican idolizing Colon, with his father telling him about Colon's rags-to-riches story, growing up without electricity or indoor plumbing and becoming one of the greatest Dominican pitchers ever. Familia couldn't believe it when Colon handed him a piece of paper and told him to go to this address. It was a tailor near Grand Central Station. Colon had ordered three suits for him.

"When I grow up, he's the person I want to be like,'' said Familia, 25. "He's been awesome to me. I'll never forget him."

You hear the same thing from everyone. If they're not talking to Colon, they're listening to him. If they're not listening, they're doing a whole lot of watching.

"You want to take all of your young players and say, 'Now, watch the way this guy handles himself. He does everything you're supposed to do. And he's there for everybody,'" Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen said.

"I remember a game this year when Harvey was feeling a little depressed, the way he was banged around, and he's hanging his head. Bartolo goes to him and says, 'You worried about one start? You think this is the last time it will ever happen? This season is way too long.' He's such a good leader for this staff."

This is a guy who came into the major leagues in 1997, throwing 97 to 100 mph and capturing the American League Cy Young Award in 2005, who now is barely touching 92 mph, throwing almost exclusively fastballs and still winning games.

Colon, 9-8 with a 4.86 ERA and winless in his last five starts, threw 89 pitches Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Incredibly, 73 were fastballs, ranging from 85-92 mph. He mixed in five changeups and threw one curveball. The rest were all four- and two-seam fastballs.

"That's why I pay so much attention to him," Harvey said. "Obviously, at a young age, he was throwing 100 mph, but he knows so much about pitching and shows that you don't have to throw that hard and can still have that kind of success."

Says deGrom, the reigning NL rookie of the year who struck out three batters on 10 pitches in the All-Star Game: "You just watch what he does, the way he attacks the strike zone and how he goes about his business. You can't help but learn by just watching."

Syndergaard, the Mets' towering 22-year-old rookie, says he hopes he's not being a pest but wants to soak in every piece of information he can.

"Really, I try to pick his brain as much as I can," Syndergaard said. "I'd be foolish not to. You watch his poise and demeanor and how easy he makes it look. You just can't believe how much movement he has on the ball."

Go ahead, ask the hitters.

"That's the thing that gets me," Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz said. "You know what's coming, but with the way his ball is moving, it's ridiculous. This guy is such a strong man, he can do this for another three or four years. You look at him and don't think much, but, oh, is this man strong."

Says Milwaukee Brewers All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun: "His fastball still moves as much as anybody in baseball. It's incredibly impressive. I remember growing up watching him with the Angels, throwing 100 mph, and now he's 90 and he's still having an incredible amount of success.

"He's not only amazing but wildly entertaining. People love watching him swing. People love watching him run the bases. I don't think there are many players that fans or opposing players enjoy watching more than Bartolo."

It's no wonder that when Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked whether he'd consider adding the DH to the National League, he said, "Not having National League pitchers hit would deprive us of the entertainment Bartolo Colon has given us this year."

Sure, a career .089 batting average can be amusing at times, particularly watching a 5-11 man pushing 300 pounds run the bases.

Don't let the body fool you. Teammates and former teammates say he's one of the finest athletes in the game. He will stand in the dugout, kick his leg up high in the air and touch the ceiling. Do you know anyone else that still lugs around a silver-plated, 1-pound weighted ball and throws it eight times in the bullpen before he comes to the mound before every start?

"What's amazing about Bart is his brute strength," said Red Sox manager John Farrell, who played with Colon in the Indians organization. "When he came up, you saw a guy not with a typical pitcher's body, but just a powerful, compact guy. And you saw the size of his hands, the thickness of his hands, and you thought, 'My God, what a physical freak.' You thought if he ever gets it, he'll pitcher forever with that strong and powerful delivery.

"He's got the same arm action as he's always had. He knows what he is as a pitcher, and you still think he can pitch forever."

Says Collins: "I'm not sure there's a stronger man in the game. He's the last guy you'd want to mess with."

Certainly, he's one of the most beloved. When a New York Post headline teased Colon about his weight last year, Mets players boycotted the paper's reporter for a day out of respect for Colon.

"You watch him on an everyday basis, how he carries himself, how he interacts with his teammates, and you understand that respect," Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer said.

Colon says he's grateful, knowing that no matter what happens with this Mets staff he at least has left his legacy.

Maybe one of these kids will turn out to be the next Colon, but, of course, they have to be healthy first. Their prized young quintet has accounted for four Tommy John surgeries, and until Wheeler returns next June or July, they won't have their Fab Five all together.

"It makes me proud, and it brings me great joy," Colon said. "Not only can I pitch and play, but I can advise, and they've been able to learn something from me.

"It's a great joy for myself. I just hope they can stay healthy, because if they do, they can be the best in the league and do great things for a long time.

"I'll be watching."