Bartolo Colón

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**Bartolo Colón**
Major League Baseball debut
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — No. 40
Starting pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
April 4, 1997 for the Cleveland Indians
Selected MLB statistics (through September 1, 2006)
Record	140-87
ERA	3.98
WHIP	1.32
Strikeouts	1466
Awards
1998, 2005 All Star 2005 AL Cy Young Award
Former teams
Cleveland Indians (1997-2002) Montreal Expos (2002) Chicago White Sox (2003) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2004-Present)

Bartolo Colón (born May 24, 1973 in Altamira, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) is a Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He bats and throws right-handed.

1 Biography
2 Salary
3 Highlights
4 See also
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Biography

A prospect from the Dominican Republic, Colón was signed by the Cleveland Indians as a free agent in 1993^[1] and made his major league debut at the Anaheim Angels on April 4, 1997, receiving a no decision^[2].

In his first season, Colón went 4-7 with a 5.65 ERA. In his 1999 season, one year after helping his Indians to the 1998 American League Championship Series, even in a lost cause against the Yankees, Colón finished 18-5, pitching over 200 innings with 161 strikeouts and a 3.95 ERA in innings pitched.

In 2000, Colón eclipsed his strikeouts number by 51, ending with 212. He also posted a career-high 98 walks. 2002 was his best season to date, but it came in Cleveland and Montreal. Just prior to the 2002 trade deadline, Colón and Tim Drew were traded to the Montreal Expos in exchange for Lee Stevens, Brandon Phillips, and prospects Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee. Colón finished 2002 with a combined 20-8 record and a 2.93 ERA, including 76 earned runs with 70 walks in 233 innings, three shutouts, and eight complete games.

After that season, every team in the league attempted to acquire him, but only a few were willing to bid high enough to obtain him. Before the 2003 season, Colón was traded to the Chicago White Sox as part of a three-team deal, including the New York Yankees. He finished 2003 with a 15-13 record. A free agent after the season, he signed with the Anaheim Angels. Colón won 18 games with Anaheim in 2004.
During the 2005 season, he went 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA, and became the first Angels pitcher to win the Cy Young Award since Dean Chance in 1964.^[3] Due to a partially torn rotator cuff that he received in a playoff game against the New York Yankees in 2005, Colón spent much of the 2006 season on the DL with soreness or inflammation in his right shoulder. In 10 starts, Colón went 1-5 with a 5.11 ERA.

[edit] Salary

His current contract with the Angels covers $51 million from 2004 to 2007, which included an $8 million signing bonus.

2004: $9 million
2005: $8 million
2006: $12 million
2007: $14 million
Limited no-trade clause (may block a trade to 4 teams)

[edit] Highlights

2005 AL Cy Young Award
Two-time All-Star (1998, 2005).
Won his only start of the 1998 ALCS pitching a four-hit, one-run complete game.
Has pitched 31 complete games, ranking 16th among active players as of the end of 2006.^[4]