Bartolo Colon put on 11 different Major League uniforms during his career that spanned from 1997 to 2018. He was a part of the league for 21 different seasons and was very good as he spread around. Two of those years were spent pitching for the Chicago White Sox.
One of them came in 2003 and the other came in 2009. He wasn't a part of any winning White Sox teams but he was certainly a good player during the duration of his career. If he wasn't great, he wouldn't have played for 21 years.
Colon never reached the mountain top of winning the World Series but he was a Cy Young Award Winner with the Los Angeles Angels in 2005. His name also appeared on the ballot a few other times throughout his career. Colon made four appearances in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game as well.
Now, he has been retired long enough that we can start wondering about his Hall of Fame case. His name will appear on the ballot in 2024. There are some other big-time names making their debut on the sheet next year like Joe Mauer, Chase Utley, and David Wright amongst others.
The Chicago White Sox had some good times with Bartolo Colon.
Colon had a career 4.12 ERA but that was spiked toward the end of his career when he wasn't the dominant pitcher in his earlier days. He had a career record of 247-188 with 2535 strikeouts in 3461.2 innings pitched. All of this accumulated him a WAR of 46.2.
Of course, it is a long shot to consider Colon a Hall of Famer but now is the time to make the case for him. He was a great pitcher during multiple eras. That includes the steroid era so his opponents were usually at a significant advantage.
He was also one of the most well liked players in the history of the league. When the National League was still allowing pitchers to hit, he hit a big home run late in his career and the baseball world went crazy. He was a lot of fun and don't be surprised if he gets some votes.