James Shields may not want to remember what happened last Saturday, but it won’t be something soon forgotten by Mets fans.
In case you missed it, Colon did the unthinkable, clubbing a no doubt home run at Petco Park, a stadium not known for being a home run haven. As if the 42-year-old pitcher wasn’t already an internet sensation, this cemented his status.
One of the results of Colon’s home run, besides a priceless reaction by his teammates, is that one fan had to pay up on a preseason declaration. The man kept his word and this tattoo now resides on his arm.
In addition to the photo posted by The 7 Line, there is also a lengthy caption providing background on how the ink came to be. Here it is in its entirety:
There are few things in the world less important than a mans word. In this case, a statement was made at the beginning of the season, and it came true.
Matt Sassi said to his buddy, Anthony Triola: “If Bartolo Colon hits a home run this year, I’ll get a commemorative tattoo”. Before the game on Saturday I met them in McFadden’s and they told me about this bet. You’d think, ok… that’s not happening. Right? WRONG!
Coolest part of the bet was that they were both there to witness the feat in person. Matt is a Middletown, NY native that moved to San Diego. What were the odds that Bart would be on the hill the day of our invasion? What are the odds he’d go yard? Slim to damn near impossible.
Matt could have chickened out and not gotten it at all, or gotten something small that could easily have been hidden. Instead he went balls to the freakin’ wall with pretty much a half sleeve. Tossed THE 7 LINE ARMY on there for good measure and added the date of Bart’s now famous swing.
You manned up, Matt. Bravo.
Among the things you could say at the beginning of a Major League Baseball season that you would think had no chance of happening, Bartolo Colon hitting a home run would be really close to the top of the list. Hats off indeed to Matt.
H/T Eye On Baseball
