Bartolo Colon Quotations

When I was just a year old, my dad was always talking about Nolan Ryan, ... He is my favorite player of all time, so it is a very special feeling to do it as an Angel.

Me and my dad always talked growing up about Nolan Ryan, so I was very aware of the company I would be keeping.

My arm feels good and I hope that continues, because I don't want to feel what I felt last year again. That's the first time that's ever happened to me.

My back is fine; the cold weather had nothing to do with it and the way I felt physically had nothing to do with it. I didn't execute the pitches.

My back bothered me just a little bit. But the reason I got hit was that I was high in the strike zone. With their team, they've been making contact the first two games of this series pretty hard, and today they took advantage of everything that I made mistakes on in the strike zone. But my back had really nothing to do with it. I just didn't execute pitches.

More than puzzled, I'm ticked off. I had two outs and I couldn't get the third one.

More than anything, Mariano has taught me how to hold a cut fastball, and how to be a pitcher, how to be a complete pitcher,

Right now, as in years past, I try to experiment with everything early and I feel like I do have everything right now. I'm not holding anything back. Even though it's early in spring I feel like I'm in a good spot right now.

I grew up working in the hills, and it allowed me to be strong, ... It goes back to the way I was raised in the village.

I have a lot of respect for Mariano Rivera, ... I learned a lot of things from him. More than anything, I learned how to hold a cut fastball. Mariano has taught me how to be a complete pitcher. That respect goes a long way. I have the same thing to say about Pedro Martinez. I love them a lot.

I felt really bad when I got traded because I was switching to a team I hadn't played before in a new league. But I want to thank all the people of Montreal, when I was there they really embraced me and made me feel very welcome.

I felt a little nervous. I had never seen so many flags. Not just Dominican flags, but also from Venezuela. To me that was very, very beautiful.

I feel good. Right now I feel as ready as any other season.

I elevated the ball when they got the three runs. But overall, I must say, it was a nice feel out on the mound today.

Today, I couldn't even do that because of my back. Even staying on top was difficult. I was very inconsistent because of the discomfort in my back. I don't even know where I was mechanically.

It is going to take a little bit of time. It is going to come from within. One day I am going to realize I'm fine.

I was afraid of not coming through for my people, and now I'm really happy to have contributed to the baseball glory of my country.

I think we're going to compete, but to be honest, when I look at pitching, I think Venezuela has an edge. They have a clear edge on the pitching side.

I saw the effort (Friday) by the guys in the bullpen and I knew I needed to push myself a little more.

Mariano had a great year, ... I did think about the fact that maybe he was going to come away and be the winner.

It feels very tight. The last four days it's been getting real tight on me. Massage should take care of it.

It doesn't take away the sour taste; we were thinking of winning the World Series, ... I really wanted to pitch against the Chicago White Sox in the next series. If it had been my back, I wouldn't have come out.

It doesn't take away the pain I felt, the sour taste in my mouth about how the season ended. This is a great accomplishment but I still wanted us to go further as a team. We were all thinking about going to win the World Series.

It definitely gives a different feel to what the lineup originally was going to look like.

I stopped being a village boy who thought he could throw any rock through any wall and started thinking about being a guy who could last longer.

I thought maybe I wouldn't get it, ... A lot of crazy things went into my head.

I would love to pitch for my country,

You don't even imagine what the scenery is around here. People stopping by and honking their horns, ... It's been really, really crazy, crazy, crazy. It's the first time ever that we are celebrating something like this. ... There's going to be a lot of partying.

To do it for the Angels is very special. You can't even imagine what the scene is like here with people stopping by and honking their horns. It's been really crazy, crazy, crazy.

This was exactly what I was looking for. It was good to come out of it nice. Working on three days' rest, I put more emphasis on finishing well.

Even though I do feel a little stiff, I did not feel any pain, and my back had nothing to do with what happened tonight, ... Mechanically, I was fine, but the fact was that I was hanging pitches and throwing fastballs down the middle of the plate. I give them credit for not missing them.

There's no comparison. In spring training it was more tightness. This is more pain in the back.

It would mean a lot, especially to my family, to the Angel fans and to my country, ... It would be a real honor to have it and to win it. This is not the time to hide anymore. It's out there.

It would mean a lot, especially to my family, the Angels fans and to my country, ... It is not time to hide from it anymore. It is out there.

Any time I take the mound, Alex is a dangerous guy. It's not the first time he's gotten me, and it won't be the last. He obviously feels very good against me, but I know that can change quickly, too. I'll locate my pitches better against him next time.

Any time I take the mound against him, Alex is a dangerous hitter. This was not the first time he got me and it won't be the last. I'm confident I will locate against him better the next time. He is a great hitter; I have a lot of respect for him.

This doesn't take away the pain that I felt and the sour taste in my mouth about the way the season ended, ... This is a great accomplishment, but we wanted to go a little further.

This doesn't take away the pain I felt, the sour taste I had in my mouth, about the way the season ended, ... I wanted to win the World Series. I desperately wanted to pitch against the White Sox. But the pain I felt, I knew I wasn't going to be able to help my team.

They got me five runs and that was enough.

They're going to make a lot of plays for me. I support them 100 percent.

It's a very special feeling to do it for one team, ... unlike what I did before.

It's the first time ever that we are celebrating something like this. There's going to be a lot of partying.

It means a lot to perform for all those people who have done a lot for your country. You want to fight to try to be like them in the future. We feel pride to have people like that joining us.

The next one is a start I'm looking forward to, hopefully to put this one behind me.

The offense has been great to me all year and given me great support.

It's been four days of pain in my back. I knew I could get through the fifth, but it felt worse the longer I was in the game. Right now it is very tight. It would be very tough to give you an answer if I'm going to miss my next start.

It's been four days of pain. I knew I could pitch and get the team through five innings. I feel like I had good stuff. I was staying on top of the pitches because I couldn't bend over.

It'll be welcome if I do get it. I can't put my finger on it because people vote for it, and I can't do anything else about my numbers.

It was more related to me trying to compensate for my back pain throughout the whole year. I started losing my arm slot. I think that caused the fatigue to build up a little quicker because I was trying to compete for this team.

No matter what, it's going to be a big start,

It will be welcome and a privilege, and I needed a good team behind me just to be a candidate.

I want to pitch. We're in the middle of something good, and I want to keep contributing to it. That's why I want to wait as long as I can to make a decision.

After the season, yeah, I've been thinking about it a lot, ... And one of the prevailing thoughts was the fact that maybe I won't get it. Maybe it was going to go to somebody else. A lot of crazy things came into my head.

Any time you face a team like the Red Sox , it does push you a little bit harder because they have a tough lineup. The confidence built as the game went on.

Any time you get that close to completing the game, you want to. Mike came over and asked me, 'How do you feel?' I was a little fatigued. He said he didn't want to take any chances.

I hung pitches and threw fastballs right down the middle of the plate. I give them credit for not missing. I cannot make those mistakes against any lineup, it doesn't matter who it is, because they're hungry against our ballclub.

I knew I could pitch and get the team through five innings. I feel like I had good stuff.

I knew (Friday) around BP time that I was going to be able to throw,

I knew yesterday around BP time that I was going to be able to throw today. We're fighting for something here. I saw the effort yesterday by the guys in the bullpen, and I knew I needed to push myself a little more.

I'm the one that woke them up a little bit by making the pitches that I made. But I look forward to seeing them again, definitely. They're a good team and I like to compete against them.

I have to be careful with Alex, obviously, but I think that whatever happened in the past with Alex is in the past, and I look forward to tomorrow. It's a brand new start. All of them are dangerous. To me, they're all cleanup hitters. That's the way I see the Yankee lineup.

I really can't pinpoint any one thing or pick anything out. Body-wise and stuff-wise, I feel fine. My rhythm is off. I do feel sometimes I'm gripping the ball a little too hard.

I had good stuff, ... I was staying on top of the ball because I could not bend down. It was a blessing in disguise, because I could stay on top of my changeup and my fastball.

I just felt a twitch in my groin because I tried to change direction so quickly. The groin didn't affect me.

I pitched from the heart. I felt I was carrying the whole country on my shoulders and that I couldn't let my people down.

If I can get an out with one or two pitches and use my sinker or my cutter, I'm better off, ... I stopped being a village boy, thinking that I can throw any stone, any rock through a wall, and started thinking about being a guy that could last longer, to take some off my fastball and not to depend only on throwing hard.

If I can get an out with one or two pitches and use my sinker or cutter, I'm better off, ... I stopped being a village boy, thinking that I can throw any stone, any rock through a wall, and started thinking about being a guy that could last longer, to take some off my fastball and not to depend only on throwing hard. Mixing movement on my fastball has made me a more complete pitcher.

I felt today like I was pitching, not just in front of my country, but in front of all my family. This tournament is big for us. It's like a World Cup. It's like a Super Bowl. It's a great idea. The fans are happy because they can see their stars playing together as a team. That means a lot to them and the players.

I feel 100 percent. I will come prepared.

I feel a lot better right now just by making this start. I will make the next start.

I don't want to think about it, but now I have to because I'm at 19. It is important to me and to my family, but it is also important to the team because it means we're winning games.

I can't deny the fact that I was thinking about it, ... It was not mechanics at all. It was the fact that I hung fastballs and threw pitches right over the middle of the plate. I credit them for not missing my pitches.

I can't deny the fact that I thought about it, but I don't think that added any pressure to me.

I can't blame whoever is putting the signs down. I am the one throwing the bad pitches; it is not his fault.

The first three innings it felt like I had a groove going. Then I started elevating and I can't attribute it to anything. But when I started missing high, they were hitting it.