On April 4, 1997, a 23-year-old pitcher from the Dominican Republic made his MLB debut for the Cleveland Indians. His name was Bartolo Colon, and he allowed four earned runs across his first five innings. An inauspicious start to a career that would blossom into something truly beautiful.
I was born three days earlier, on April 1, 1997. That means that for the first 21 years of my life, only three days were Bartolo-less.
Growing up as a young baseball fan, Bartolo was always there. His mug was a mainstay of the baseball card collection that’s still under my bed.