Thank You CC Sabathia

JimD

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The guy was a true warrior - I know it's cliche'd, but talk about leaving it all out on the field. Kudos.
 

jayhoz

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The silver lining in all of this is that he'll never have to try to field another bunt in his life.
 

donutogre

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It's not the most popular opinion amongst the Red Sox fans here, but I'm a pretty big CC Sabathia fan. The work he did for the Brewers in just half a season forever made me appreciate him. In half a season he threw 3 shutouts and 7 complete games. At the end of the season he threw on short rest 3 starts in a row, two of which were outstanding. He couldn't keep the magic going in his post-season start, but still, the work he did to drag that team into the postseason was amazing.

And even when he was with the Yankees, I was pretty damn impressed that he managed to put himself back together and bounce back with three very solid late-career seasons before age finally really caught up with him this year.

For a while, it looked like he might manage to pull off 300 wins, before things derailed a bit, but it's still quite the impressive resume he put together. He's a hall-of-famer in my mind.
 

AMS25

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What a long and distinguished career. I hate the Yankees, but have always respected CC. Love how he overcame his drinking problem to get back on the field and compete.
 

The Last DiMaggio

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I saw him start the 2000 Hall of Fame game at Doubleday field in Cooperstown. There was so-much anticipation about the potential for this kid. He lived up to it, and more. I also caught the first home-run in the Home Run Derby that day, but I digress. Class act, CC.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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It's not the most popular opinion amongst the Red Sox fans here, but I'm a pretty big CC Sabathia fan. The work he did for the Brewers in just half a season forever made me appreciate him. In half a season he threw 3 shutouts and 7 complete games. At the end of the season he threw on short rest 3 starts in a row, two of which were outstanding. He couldn't keep the magic going in his post-season start, but still, the work he did to drag that team into the postseason was amazing.
I sign on for this too. CC did have some disparaging and stupid comments wrt the Red Sox over the last couple of years, but his career includes periods of dominance (the Indians/Brewers years were pretty great), reinvention, and gutty veteran presence that I have to admire. Plus by all accounts he was a popular teammate, has been personally involved in charities, and seems like an intelligent and funny guy.

But the most impressive thing to me about CC was how he handled stepping back from the game a couple years ago to deal with alcohol abuse issues. Described his problem head-on, put his health and his family first, and was impressively upright about the whole thing. I had a loved one suffering from substance challenges right around the same time and the way CC addressed the situation was really poignant to me at the time.

Edit: Just want to add I hate the goddamn Yankees. Don't want you all to think I'm going soft on you.
 

RedOctober3829

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Sabathia was on the other side of the rivalry from us, but I have always respected him. He's a class act. Many Yankees people credit him with the clubhouse chemistry that helped form the '09 title team. You have to give him credit for completely changing his way of pitching when he lost his velocity and still got it done. Crappy way to end his career, but he should be a candidate for the HOF.
 

Murderer's Crow

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I don't think it's a crappy way to end his career, it's symbolic of the guts he has. As hurt as he was, he was pitching well and the defense failed him.

You guys are gonna love this. Wait for it....

Wait for it....

He was a true Yankee
 

donutogre

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Judging by being in tears last night, I can't see him being on the mound tonight.
Yeah, he's done, and it always sucks when greats don't get to go out on their own terms... but that really does happen so rarely. And there's definitely something poetic about him literally pitching until he can't anymore.
 

Comfortably Lomb

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Hard to dislike a veteran who managed to reinvent himself after his velocity dropped. An actual pitcher. Not the most fun exit for him but compared to a Pedroia style slow fade into oblivion via a never-ending rehab it seems preferable.
 

DeadlySplitter

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This is true. Depending what the Yankees do on the roster, if the game isn't close tonight and he's still playing, I can see them giving him one final appearance at home. Down 5 or up 5...etc.
Subluxation of his pitching shoulder, formally replaced on the roster by Heller. career is over.
 

jon abbey

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The silver lining in all of this is that he'll never have to try to field another bunt in his life.
There was an amazing clip posted on Twitter last night that I can't find now of CC as a rookie sprinting off the mound to field a dribbler to the 3B side, and firing a 100 MPH bullet across the diamond to get the runner.
 

jon abbey

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Subluxation of his pitching shoulder, formally replaced on the roster by Heller. career is over.
This is IMO a pretty incredible way to go out, not wanting to leave even with a dislocated shoulder, even throwing a test pitch (that looked pretty good!).
 

KiltedFool

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I watched CC pitch as a rookie and have always been a fan, I used to get a lot of amusement mocking the crusty old Tribe fans who complained that he wore his cap crooked and was "disrespecting the game".

You can call him a true Yankee but my Tribe had him first. He had scholarship offers to be a tight end if I recall.

He was just a big kid when he broke in, he was robbed at gunpoint in a downtown luxury hotel late at night when he was like 22. He made a major adjustment and never went out for nightlife from that point on, he moved his mom from California to help him after that point. I recall reading that he and his wife are very down to earth, grounded people, that they had minimal staff for the size of their property and their income. I think I recall that they did most of their own cooking as a family.

When CC went public with his issues with alcohol I gained even more respect for him as a man. He could have tried to keep it hidden until the off season but he faced it and put it front and center.

There was a lot of talk early in his career about him and Bartolo learning to be pitchers, not just throwers, because both had plus velocity.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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This is true. Depending what the Yankees do on the roster, if the game isn't close tonight and he's still playing, I can see them giving him one final appearance at home. Down 5 or up 5...etc.
Why wouldn't they DL him and replace him with another pitcher? It'd be complete mismanagement not to.
 

Ale Xander

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5 straight top-5 Cy Young finishes is nothing to sneeze at. But he was on some loaded (carb- and otherwise) teams; it's not usual to go 17-5 with an ERA+ of only 102. However, I will always have a soft place in my heart, as the Red Sox are batting 1.000 for WS titles in seasons in which he wins a Cy.
 

TheDivision

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Enjoy well-deserved time with your family, something you've always wanted, and thank you for 2009.
 

Van Everyman

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I snuck out of my job in DC without telling anyone to travel to Cleveland to see Game 5 in 2007 when Beckett was on the mound against CC. He had been absolutely incredible that season but hadn't yet gotten over his postseason yips. At the time, the Indians were up 3-1 and coming off an emotional win in Game 4. The Tribe hired Beckett's ex-gf to sing the national anthem. The Jake was completely rocking.

And then CC took the mound. Ball 1. Next pitch: Ball 2. People start shifting in their seats. By Ball 3, the guy behind me yells, "Fuckin' throw strikes!" The air went out of the place. Beckett absolutely dominated in what was an incredible postseason performance while CC was gone after a few innings, IIRC. For all intents and purposes, it should have been a career-defining choke.

But it wasn't. If you told me then that CC would go on to win a WS in his first season with the Yankees, become a solid and often terrific postseason contributor and pitch for another 12 seasons, most of them pretty damned good, I probably wouldn't have believed you. But he did. He was exactly what the doctor ordered for the 2009 season for that team and became a really well-respected guy in the league for all the reasons mentioned above.

Good luck to him.
 

terrynever

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A warrior always looks good getting carried off the field on his shield. CC going off in tears, limping, trainer at his side, makes for a great photo.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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His Cribs episode (filmed while he was with Cleveland) where he giddily displayed all of the jerseys and memorabilia from other professional athletes, including a prized jersey from David Ortiz, made it difficult to dislike him. The fact that he proudly stuck to his Vallejo roots makes him even easier to root for.

I get it if Sox fans don't like him because of whom he played for but that should be distinct from how he is viewed as a human being. And by most accounts, he is a pretty decent person.
 

Pandemonium67

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I've got lots of respect for how CC redefined himself mid-career and continued to thrive long after age and body type suggested he should've been cooked. He stymied the Sox many, many times. He can leave the game with head held high.
 

Wingack

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We often talk about how long term FA contracts for pitchers often don't work out, but this one for the Yankees definitely did (arguably they have the two best pitching mega deal FA with him and Mussina).

Question is, does he make the Hall of Fame?
 

santadevil

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There was an amazing clip posted on Twitter last night that I can't find now of CC as a rookie sprinting off the mound to field a dribbler to the 3B side, and firing a 100 MPH bullet across the diamond to get the runner.
Probably not the same clip, but from his MLB debut against Baltimore
View: https://youtu.be/qEe44EpZFQk?t=114


I liked CC and went to college in 2002/2003 with a couple guys that grew up with him. They spoke about him like he was going to be a big thing and as a baseball fan that's what I was seeing too.
Glad he had a long successful career and was scared to death in 2007 when the Sox played the Indians in the ALCS.

As mentioned upthread, the work he did to get Milwaukee to the playoffs really cemented my admiration for him as a fan. I was sad that he signed with the Yankees, but happy he was able to get a ring
 

jon abbey

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We often talk about how long term FA contracts for pitchers often don't work out, but this one for the Yankees definitely did (arguably they have the two best pitching mega deal FA with him and Mussina).
The Scherzer deal is the gold standard here, I believe, averaging around 5 WAR per year so far where CC and Mussina only averaged about 3.
 

santadevil

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I watched CC pitch as a rookie and have always been a fan, I used to get a lot of amusement mocking the crusty old Tribe fans who complained that he wore his cap crooked and was "disrespecting the game".

You can call him a true Yankee but my Tribe had him first. He had scholarship offers to be a tight end if I recall.

He was just a big kid when he broke in, he was robbed at gunpoint in a downtown luxury hotel late at night when he was like 22. He made a major adjustment and never went out for nightlife from that point on, he moved his mom from California to help him after that point. I recall reading that he and his wife are very down to earth, grounded people, that they had minimal staff for the size of their property and their income. I think I recall that they did most of their own cooking as a family.

When CC went public with his issues with alcohol I gained even more respect for him as a man. He could have tried to keep it hidden until the off season but he faced it and put it front and center.

There was a lot of talk early in his career about him and Bartolo learning to be pitchers, not just throwers, because both had plus velocity.
Not quite true...he had that issue in Toronto, which was around the time he came forward with his alcohol issues
https://deadspin.com/c-c-sabathia-restrained-from-brawl-outside-nightclub-1724612780
 

jon abbey

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Probably not the same clip, but from his MLB debut against Baltimore
Yes! That was it, not so amazing for a lot of pitchers but for a guy who didn't even bother trying to cover 1B for the last five years or so, amazing to see he was once that nimble.
 

jon abbey

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Whoa, CC said today on the podcast that he does with Ryan Rocco that he has “a tear in my rotator cuff, my labrum, and my bicep, and I did something to the capsule.”

Dude threw three more pitches after that.
 

Marciano490

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CC was on Desus and Mero the other night. He’s funny, humble and kind of dorky. It’s a good show anyways, but you Yankee folks might want to check out his little cameo.