Recently, CC Sabathia was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. The well-known ceremony in Cooperstown for Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner, along with the families of the late Dave Parker and Dick Allen, took place on Sunday.
Although CC Sabathia was not a lifelong Yankee, he wore the pinstripes with pride and honor. During his final regular season start as a Yankees pitcher, he sacrificed a $50,000 bonus, demonstrating to the Rays that they shouldn’t mess with the Bronx.
He was just two innings away from earning this bonus, but after a pitch to the head of 2018 Yankees catcher Austin Romine, CC announced that he would hit the next batter. Moments like these define a career and remain etched in fans’ minds.
CC shouted and pointed at Jesus Sucre, the Rays catcher, even warning him to be prepared to take a ball in the body. And that’s exactly what he did. On the first pitch of the fifth inning, he threw a pitch that hit a Rays player in the leg.
Now a Hall of Fame member, Sabathia pitched for the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees during his 19-year career. He finished with 251 wins and 3,093 strikeouts, and he was a World Series champion with the Yankees in 2009. Known for his durability and consistency, he led the league in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts among active players at the time of his retirement.
He reached the 3,000 strikeout milestone, becoming the 17th pitcher in MLB history to do so. With 251 wins, he is one of only 15 pitchers to achieve both 250 wins and 3,000 strikeouts, and one of only three left-handers to accomplish this feat.
He is also a member of the Black Aces-a group of 15 African-American and African-Canadian pitchers who have won at least 20 games in a season-in a sport where the starting pitching role has been reduced, making longevity increasingly difficult to achieve. Sabathia’s total innings pitched remains the highest for any player who debuted since 1989.
Though he debuted with Cleveland in 2001 and won a Cy Young Award with the Indians in 2007, along with a brief but remarkable tenure with the Brewers during their late-2008 playoff push, the 45-year-old Sabathia entered the Hall as a Yankee. We will always remember his last gesture to Yankees fans. Later in 2018, the New York front office rewarded him with $500,000 for that gesture in the Rays game.
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