Bartolo Colon makes hilarious claim about pre-Shohei Ohtani MLB era

LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is undoubtedly the face of baseball. From his days as a high school standout in Japan to being the most dominant player of his generation, Ohtani's popularity has skyrocketed. However, before Ohtani became a global sensation, it was Bartolo Colon who captivated attention, at least according to the Cy Young-winning pitcher himself.

Colon was a four-time All-Star and a successful journeyman who appeared for 11 different MLB clubs. Dubbed as "Big Sexy" during his playing days, Colon brought humor, flavor and personality.

On Thursday, Colon poked fun at Ohtani's fame with a post on X.

"Before Shohei made it global, I made it sexy," he wrote.

Boasting a 21-season career, Colon was one of the league's most beloved players and was often cheered by opposing fans whenever he made an appearance. To further emphasize his impact and longevity, he became the last baseball player from the Montreal Expos team to play in MLB.

Shohei Ohtani's Dodgers swept by Paul Skenes' Pirates

In a surprising turn of events, the reigning champion Dodgers were swept by the Pirates on the road in their three-game series. With the most recent defeat, their record now stands 78-62, with the second-place Padres just two games behind for the top spot.

Shohei Ohtani had a particularly rough game in the series closer that ended 5-3. The NL MVP went hitless in three at-bats with a walk and tallied two strikeouts against NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, who seems to be his Achilles heel. The baseball unicorn is now 2-for-11 with six strikeouts and a .705 against the Pirates ace.

Tommy Pham started the scoring in Game 3 with an RBI single in the third that plated Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates then opened up a four-spot in the fifth inning. Reynolds started the barrage with a bases-loaded RBI single that brought home Jared Triolo. Nick Yorke would then follow it up with a two-RBI double that drove in Nick Gonzales and Reynolds. Finally, Alexander Canario brought home Andrew McCutchen after forcing a groundout at first.

The Dodgers tried to mount a comeback in the ninth inning through Mookie Betts, Andy Pages, and Miguel Rojas. However, it was all for naught.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Daniel Santiago