The New York Mets 6-3 victory the San Diego Padres this weekend may not hold much significance for many Irish sports fans. It did however for Mets pitcher Bartolo Colón.
At 42, he has spent over two decades of his life playing in MLB. He's had spells at the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland A's but last night's game at Petco Park will go down as one of the highlights of his career.
Just shy of his 43rd birthday, Colón hit his first ever home run, 19 years after he began playing professional baseball. And judging by the reaction of his teammates and commentators, you can just imagine what it meant to him.
"The three years that I've been here, I was chasing one. Even back in my Montreal days," Colon said through an interpreter.
"But I wasn't expecting something like this to happen. ... My heart was beating a lot. And today's a day I'm never going to forget."
He becomes the oldest person to ever hit a home run, eclipsing Randy Jackson's record who hit his first home run aged 40 when playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2003.
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