Ten homer-rific facts now that Bartolo Colon has given up homers to 300 different players

Bartolo Colon gave up two home runs in the Rangers' 3-1 loss to the Tigers on Friday night. That's not great. But one of those home runs came off the bat of the 300th different player to homer off him. And that, shockingly, is good. 
Yes, you read that right. That's because you have to pitch so well for a long time in order to give up home runs to 300 different hitters. (He did pitch a complete game on Friday, after all.) In fact, it made Colon only the second player in baseball history to have reached the triple-century mark -- which is quite a feat in and of itself. 

With a 2-R HR in the 2nd inning, James McCann became the 300th player to hit a HR off Bartolo Colon

Colon and Jamie Moyer are the only pitchers in MLB history to allow a HR to 300 different players pic.twitter.com/M6rM67YYC8

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 7, 2018

That's the view that Colon has, too. "Never in my life have I been bothered by a home run," he said after the game. "I'm bothered most when I give up a walk."
He also pounds the strike zone, which means hitters are ready to swing. "The hitters know he's going to throw strikes," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "I think part of that is that he doesn't throw 95, 96 [mph] anymore. The mistakes that do get hit, they have the high velocity and they're elevated. I think that's more the case than anything else."
So, now that Colon has reached the infamous milestone, let's look at some of the most remarkable home run facts from his remarkable career: 
1. The first
Colon didn't get very far into his career before giving up a long ball, as the first came in the second inning of his first big league start on April 4, 1997. With a runner on first, the Angels' Gary Disarcina smashed Colon's 2-2 pitch over the left-field wall. 

2. The latest
Though James McCann was the 300th player to go deep, he wasn't the most recent. That honor belongs to JaCoby Jones, who gave the Tigers some breathing room with his eighth-inning blast: 

3. The most
It's not surprising that Alex Rodriguez leads all hitters with eight dingers off Colon. His best came in 2005: In six at-bats against Colon that year, A-Rod collected four homers and a double. Three of the homers came in one game, on April 26 at Yankee Stadium. 

4. The Hall of Famers
Colon has given up home runs to seven players who are in the Hall of Fame -- and that number is only going to rise as more players who faced the stout right-hander hang 'em up (meanwhile, we assume Colon will continue pitching until the sun burns out).
Jeff Bagwell, Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. are tied for the lead against Colon, with two apiece.

5. The managers
Hall of Famers aren't the only retired players to have hit dingers against Colon. In fact, three managers in the game today -- AJ Hinch, Gabe Kapler and Craig Counsell -- have taken him deep. 

6. The pitchers
We all remember where we were when Colon finally hit his own home run. Turns out, he knows what the feeling is like as two of the players to homer off Colon were merely making cameo appearances at the dish before heading back to the mound.
The first was Gio Gonzalez in 2014. His blast barely cleared the fence and the Nationals' starter looked panicked as he sprinted his way around the bases before the umpires gave him the whirlybird. 

One year later, Chad Billingsley did the same. 

7. The defunct stadiums
Colon, much like time itself, has seen seasons come and seasons go; he's seen the leaves change, fall, and come back again; and he's seen stadiums rise and fall. Here are the now defunct and demolished ballparks that have born witness to home runs off Colon: 
- The Kingdome 
- Cinergy Field 
- Busch Stadium 
- Dolphin Stadium
- Veterans Stadium
- Tiger Stadium
- Turner Field
- Astrodome
- Shea Stadium
- Metrodome
- Stade Olympique
- Yankee Stadium
8. The second continent 
Not content to give up homers in just the U.S. and Canada, Colon surrendered a long ball to Justin Smoak while pitching in the Tokyo Dome on March 29, 2012. It was the only run Colon gave up in eight innings. 

9. The ones that didn't clear the wall
Two of the 429 home runs that Colon has allowed were of the inside-the-park variety. Carlos Febles' lone homer against Colon came when he raced around the bases in 1999:

Curtis Granderson pulled off his own on an inside-the-park shot in 2005.

While they may not have the majestic arc that you expect, they all look the same in the box score. 
10. The longest 
Wondering which was the longest home run that Colon has allowed since Statcast came to life in 2015? Wonder no more: It happened earlier this year against the Mariners when Nelson Cruz hit this one 453 feet into the night. Though the two players have squared off for 20 plate appearances, this is the 38-year-old Cruz's lone homer against Colon: