Some moments in sports defy logic. They’re not supposed to happen, yet they do—and that’s exactly what makes them unforgettable. Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of one such moment: Bartolo Colón’s first and only home run in 21 major league seasons.

Forget Pete Alonso’s playoff heroics or Robin Ventura’s legendary grand-slam single. Put aside Darryl Strawberry’s 252 home runs in a Mets uniform. This day belongs to Big Sexy himself—a 42-year-old pitcher who, on May 7, 2016, did something nobody expected.

Facing San Diego Padres starter James Shields at Petco Park, Colón turned on a belt-high, 90-mph fastball and launched a towering two-run blast over the left field wall. The Mets dugout erupted in pure joy as the ball sailed into history. It was a moment of pure, unscripted magic.

“The only thing I could think about when I was running the bases were those bases were getting further and further away from me,” Colón recalled at Citi Field in September 2023. “Once I came home … I just felt like it was a dream.”

But this was no dream. Colón, who finished his career as an .084 hitter in 299 at-bats, was known more for his wild swings—often so forceful his batting helmet would fly off—than for any power at the plate. Coming into that at-bat, he was 0-for-9 in 2016. The 357-foot homer ended up being one of just four hits he recorded in 60 at-bats that season.

“You watch him take batting practice, and he’s got very good hand-eye coordination,” third baseman David Wright said at the time. “You see him hit some in BP and think to yourself, ‘What would happen if he ever did it in a game?’”

That question was answered in Colón’s 19th MLB season, just 17 days before his 43rd birthday. He became the oldest player in MLB history to hit his first career home run—a feat that still feels as improbable today as it did a decade ago. For Mets fans, it remains one of the most joyous, surreal, and purely entertaining moments in franchise history.