May 7th.
A day that means nothing to many people, most people I’d assume. A day that seemingly is like every other. This year it’s a Thursday, last year it was a Wednesday. Just your average day in the story of life.
But for me, it’s a day dedicated to someone special. Something special. A moment that symbolized impossible things becoming possible. A day that no one thought would happen. A day of magic mixed with mystery as we stand here 4 years later pondering it’s very occurrence, amazed by its truth, and thankful for it happening.
It was a beautiful day in San Diego (but aren’t they all). Two average slash below average teams had a date to do the dance of baseball. No other than the Bartolo Colon was on the mound for the New York Metropolitans as the 7 Line Army (a group of devoted Mets fans that travel together to various games throughout the year) swarmed the stands anxiously waiting to see how much Big Sexy had left in the tank, as we all did every 5 days.
We know that all national league games brought Big Sexy off the mound and into the batter’s box. We’ve seen helmets flying and bellies blubbering followed awkward post strike out smiles while walking back to the dugout.
But what we were about to witness we had never seen before. In fact, it only occurred in our dreams, our fantasies, our “what if’s.”
As he set to bat against Padres pitcher James Shields, helmet goofily placed on his head, belly ready to blubber, the ball met the bat and our eyes could not convince our brains what was about to happen. From the crack of the bat we knew it was a solid possibility but right here? Right now? Impossible.
Possible. This ball was in fact outta here! Sir Sexiness had done it. It was the home run heard around the world.
People around the globe were met with pure laughter, cries, and celebration as Gary Cohen cried out, “The impossible has happened!”
There are a few reasons why this day is so dear to my heart. For one, it involves my favorite team and one of my favorite players. It features the sweet voice of Gary Cohen in his purest baseball glory announcing a stupendous moment in all of sports. It involves a dugout celebration of, for the most part, the team that took my Metsies to the world series the year before. And it features Terry Collins, one of Bartolo’s biggest supporters, smiling from ear to ear.
But most of all, it represents a player doing something no one expected him to do, which to me is one of the most special things in sports.
Some people could argue that at this point in his career, Colon was considered an underdog. No one expected him to go out and give solid outings and they definitely were not expecting him to hit home runs. But he was and he did. It was a combo of just about everything that makes me happy in sports. Good people. Great moments. Even greater expectations shattered.
This moment was a reminder that no matter age, size, appearance, nationality, race, rank, fame, or net worth – we are all capable of so much more than what the world expects of us. In sports, sometimes getting opportunity can feel as rare as finding a pot of gold. So when opportunity is given in this game, Bartolo is proof that miracles can and do happen.
babeswhoball.com 