On a warm May day in 1973, the town of Altamira in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic became the site of what would become an auspicious historical event: the birth of Bartolo Colón.
From a young age, Bartolo displayed a work ethic that would help shape the course of his professional career in baseball. Young Bartolo worked alongside his father as they harvested coffee beans and various fruits. By the time Bartolo was 14, his strength was far more developed than the average 14-year-old. Bartolo really was never average, even from a young age.
“From childhood, he was very strong, he was capable of pulping up to 1,000 crates of coffee beans in a day” his father, Miguel Colon recalled in a 2015 interview with the New York Times’ Dan Barry.