Colon's baserunning creates buzz among fans, teammates

If Bartolo Colon wants to play his age-43 season in relative anonymity, he better stop collecting extra-base hits.

Colon, the New York Mets beloved right-hander who made history this season with his first career homer, flexed his hitting abilities again Thursday when he doubled his way back into the record books, and ran straight into the hearts of baseball fans everywhere.

Colon's buzzed-about trot into second base - which included a top speed of more than 16 miles per hour, according to Statcast - overshadowed yet another stellar pitching performance from the ageless wonder, who allowed two earned runs over 7 2/3 innings and now has a 1.93 ERA over his last five starts.

After the game, though, all anyone was talking about were those gazelle-like strides, which Colon put on full display while taking third on a single and then scoring on a sac fly.

"I don’t like to run very much, but I imagine the fans have a lot of fun watching me out there running,” Colon said through an interpreter, according to ESPN's Adam Rubin.

"I was watching just now on TV," he said in the clubhouse. "It looks like (his teammates) enjoyed themselves."

Colon's latest extra-base hit - his career-high second of the season - made him the first pitcher age 43 or older since Phil Niekro to homer and double in the same year.

"He’s entertaining," manager Terry Collins said after the Mets' 6-4 win over the Pirates. “We just didn't want him to blow out running around those bases. When he was headed to third base, I was a little concerned there. What did it take him - about four seconds, five seconds, 5 1/2 seconds? For 5 1/2 seconds I was really concerned. But he scored and and went out and pitched great."

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)