With Cleveland, he emerged as a star. Briefly with Milwaukee, he became a legend. With the Yankees, CC Sabathia gained immortality.
The big lefty, who rose to the moment consistently and whose fiery attitude became as iconic as his pitching arm, was voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot.
Sabathia received 86.8 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, the organization announced Tuesday, clearing the 75 percent threshold for entry and joining ex-Yankee Ichiro Suzuki, ex-Met Billy Wagner and the already elected Dave Parker and the late Dick Allen in the class of 2025.
Sabathia’s Hall of Fame plaque will feature the interlocking “NY.”
“This is home, The Bronx,” the California native said in a virtual news conference. “I found a home in The Bronx, and I don’t think I’ll ever leave this city. So I think it’s only fitting.”
Sabathia already was on a potential Hall of Fame track before he signed with the Yankees.
He had won the AL Cy Young Award with Cleveland in 2007 — when he threw a majors-best 241 innings as a throwback workhorse — and was spectacular with the Brewers following a trade-deadline swap, his final three regular-season starts each coming on three days of rest as he willed his new team to the postseason nearly single-handedly.
As became a trend, he did not concern himself with a potential loss in salary should he be injured during his walk-season.
He remained healthy and landed with the Yankees for seven years and $161 million, at that time the largest pact given a pitcher in a deal that immediately paid off.
In Sabathia’s first season in pinstripes, he finished fourth in Cy Young voting, took the ball five times in the postseason and limited the Twins, Angels and Phillies to eight earned runs in 36 ¹/₃ innings (1.98 ERA). Sabathia was named the ALCS MVP before helping the Yankees secure their 27th and most recent championship.
“During my career with the Yankees, I had the honor of playing with so many talented players,” Derek Jeter said in a statement. “No player exemplified a Hall of Fame player and person more than CC Sabathia. His career on the field speaks for itself, but it’s his career as a teammate that stands out the most. I look forward to welcoming CC to Cooperstown.”
From 2010-12, Sabathia was his usually excellent self (throwing at least 200 innings in each with a combined ERA of 3.11) before falling off beginning in 2013.
For three seasons, he dealt with ineffectiveness (a combined 4.81 ERA), injury (notably a 2014 knee surgery) and personal demons: He left the team ahead of the 2015 postseason to check into an alcohol rehabilitation center.
Sabathia returned a different man, who was open in talking about his addiction, and a different pitcher.
No longer able to rely on his velocity at the back end of his career, he traded his heat for guile and a cutter — “This is how I have to pitch now,” Sabathia said in ditching his four-seamer — and he pitched to a 3.76 ERA in 86 starts from 2016-18 before retiring following the ’19 season.
Few remember the numbers. Sabathia will be remembered for his performance in big moments, for sacrificing his arm deep into games in a way no modern pitcher is allowed and for his dedication to his team.
“He is a first-ballot Hall of Famer because of his exceptional body of work on the bump — but for me, his greater legacy is the type of teammate he was,” Aaron Boone said. “He always put team over self.”
Sabathia was treasured in clubhouses for moments like the one on Sept. 27, 2018. In his final start of the season, Sabathia needed to pitch seven innings to reach a $500,000 contractual bonus.
Sabathia watched Tampa Bay’s Andrew Kittredge throw a fastball near Austin Romine’s head in the sixth inning.
Sabathia then took the mound and, two frames short of the incentive, threw at the Rays’ Jesus Sucre and immediately was ejected.
Walking off the mound, Sabathia pointed to Kittredge and shouted, “That’s for you, b-tch.”
“It was more about taking care of my guys,” said Sabathia, who received eternal respect from his teammates — and did receive the extra half-million.
The Yankees finalized their coaching staff with one change: Preston Claiborne will replace Desi Druschel, who left for the Mets, as assistant pitching coach.
Claiborne, a Yankees reliever in 2013-14, is in his fifth season coaching with the organization. Last year he served as pitching coach for Low-A Tampa.
The holdovers under manager Aaron Boone: bench coach Brad Ausmus, pitching coach Matt Blake, bullpen coach Mike Harkey, hitting coach James Rowson, assistant hitting coaches Casey Dykes and Pat Roessler, third base/outfield coach Luis Rojas, first base/infield coach and director of infield Travis Chapman and major league field coordinator and director of catching Tanner Swanson.
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