Which Guy is the Bigger Surprise?

Heading into spring training, two of the biggest questions around baseball were Alex Rodriguez and Bartolo Colon. A-Rod, returing after a year's PED suspension and less than two years off his second hip surgery. Plus, he was just months away from turning 40. Hardly the kind of data that would make you confident he'd return to be a feared hitter. Colon? You wouldn't call the portly pitcher a sure thing. Counting the days til his 42nd birthday cake (on May 24th), he won 11 for the Mets a year ago -- but he was now a year older, and not an ounce lighter.
Yet, both guys came through big-time on Friday night. A-Rod smacked a pair of home runs (one estimated at 471 feet) at Tropicana Park, and then added the tie-breaking RBI single in the Yankees 5 - 4 win over the Rays. Tally 'em up -- he drove in four of the Yanks' five runs.
Colon also delivered -- in his case, 7 innings of one-run ball to win his 3rd game of the young season. And the longtime American Leaguer continued his surprising burst of effective hitting, driving in the Mets' first run of the night on a sacrifice fly.
But let's be honest: did you see either of these successful runs coming just before opening day or before spring training began? That's OK. Neither did I.
 

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