CC Sabathia may have won his Cy Young Award as a member of the then-Cleveland Indians, but he will forever be remembered in his baggy, pinstriped New York Yankees uniform, his navy hat pushed up high on his forehead. As he waits to find out if he will be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame this week, here’s a look back at the memorable moments that make Sabathia a true Yankee.
Sep. 27, 2018, against the Tampa Bay Rays Even with $500,000 riding on him just finishing with 155 innings pitched on the season, Sabathia didn’t hesitate to back up his boys. When Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge threw behind the head of the Yankees’ Austin Romine, Sabathia retaliated and hit Jesus Sucre in the left thigh to open the sixth inning. Just to make sure they knew why, Sabathia pointed into Tampa Bay’s dugout and said, “That’s for you, [expletive]!”
Sabathia knew he’d be ejected. That meant he ended up just two innings shy of hitting an incentive bonus in his contract that would have paid him $500,000. (The Yankees paid him anyway.) 2009 ALCS Sabathia went into his free agency thinking he would come out an Angel. Instead, he was blown away by the Yankees’ seven-year, $161 million offer and ended up eliminating the Angels in the Championship Series. He allowed just two runs in two starts, striking out 12 over 16 innings as he was named the ALCS MVP.
He got the Yankees back to the World Series and helped them win. 2012 ALDS Sabathia threw a strong 8 ⅔ innings to open the series against the Orioles, but what made him special was how he closed it. In the decisive Game 5, with the Yankees back in the Bronx, Sabathia went out and pitched a dominating complete game. He struck out nine in nine innings and allowed just one run.
After knee issues cost him his velocity, he rebuilt himself as a crafty lefthander. This season was his resurgence as a pitcher, and Game 5 of the AL Division Series against his former team was the debut of the “new CC.” He struck out nine in just 4 1/3 innings, out-dueling the 2017 Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to get the Yankees back into the ALCS. 2019 Season Sabathia’s final season was remarkable, even as we watched him struggle with injuries and age. On May 1 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sabathia recorded his 3,000th strikeout, becoming only the third left-hander to reach that milestone. That was the high point of the year. Sabathia struggled all season and his career ended with him walking off the field at Yankees Stadium in pain.
