NEW YORK (AP) — Bartolo Colón refuses to entertain the idea of retirement.
It doesn’t matter that he didn’t pitch in 2019 and that on Sunday he turned 47.
He craves one more shot in the majors.
“I’m not retired. That’s not in my mind,” Colón told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I’m still hoping of reaching my goal of pitching 46 innings. I’ll sign with the first team who wants me.”
Why 46?
That’s the number of innings that will propel him to pass Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for the most by a Dominican pitcher.
In his last big league season, with the Texas Rangers in 2018, Colón managed to reach 3,461 2/3 innings. He is 247-188 in 565 games — 552 as a starter since his debut with Cleveland in 1997.
Marichal managed to pitch 3,507 innings in 471 games over 16 years.
Colón is aware that time is against him.
“I know this is not a sport for the old, it’s for the young,” Colon said. “I keep training. Even though I’m not playing right now, I tried to keep fit.”
Colón is keeping busy these days promoting his recently released autobiography, “Big Sexy: In His Own Words.”