Bartolo's 38 Strike Streak Included 35 Fastballs

Published on February 24th, 2024 10:31 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


On the evening of April 18th, 2012, Bartolo Colon set a new record that barely anybody ever talks about.

This record, however, will be almost impossible to top.

According to mathematicians, Colon had a 1-in-770,000 chance of throwing 38 straight strikes over the course of a single ball game.

To make the record even crazier, Colon was nearly 40 years old at the time.

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The Oakland Athletics were up 3-0 when Colon took the mound to start the fifth inning on that fateful night.

After starting the inning with a ball, Colon would start tossing nothing but heat.

In fact, over the next 38 pitches, Colon would throw nothing but strikes.

Of these 38 pitches, 35 were fastballs.

The Angels were completely baffled and befuddled by the 39 year-old on the mound - they knew that a fastball was coming, but they still couldn't hit it.

One Angels hitter - Bobby Wilson - managed to get a hit during Colon's 38 pitch masterpiece, but that was still counted as a strike.

It wasn't until well into the eighth inning when Colon would throw his next ball, but even that pitch was just barely outside.

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The Oakland Athletics would end up winning the game by a score of 6-0.

Colon would pitch for 8 innings and allowed just 4 hits - a masterpiece for the 39 year-old pitcher.

The Angels were left stunned, wondering how they had been crushed by a pitcher that was nearly in his 40s.