CC Sabathia

CC Sabathia
Sabathia with the Indians
New York Yankees – No. 52
Starting pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Left
debut
April 8, 2001, for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics (through 2008 season)
Win-Loss	117-73
Earned run average	3.66
Strikeouts	1,393
Batting average	.261
Home runs	3
Runs batted in	13
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2001–2008) Milwaukee Brewers (2008) New York Yankees (2009-present)
Career highlights and awards
AL Cy Young Award winner (2007) 3x All-Star selection (2003,2004, 2007) Led AL in innings pitched in 2007

Carsten Charles "CC" Sabathia (born July 21, 1980 in Vallejo, California) is an American baseball player. A starting pitcher, he currently plays for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Sabathia played the first seven plus seasons of his career with the Cleveland Indians where he won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and played the second half of the 2008 MLB season with the Milwaukee Brewers, leading them to the NL Wild Card.

High school career

Sabathia attended Vallejo High School, where he lettered in baseball, basketball, and football. In baseball, he compiled a mark of 6–0 with an 0.77 ERA (46.2 IP, 14 H, 82 K) during his senior season. Coming out of the draft he was the top high school prospect in Northern California according to Baseball America.

In football, he was an all-conference tight end. He received scholarship offers to play college football, including one from USC, and actually signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Hawaiʻi.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

Early career

Sabathia was drafted in the first round (20th overall) by the Indians in the 1998 MLB Draft. He signed for a $1.3 million bonus.

In 2000, he was selected for the 28-man United States Olympic Team roster. He appeared in one pre-Olympic tournament game in Sydney, Australia, but was not on the official 24-man, Gold Medal-winning roster because he was called up by the Cleveland Indians.

In 2001, he was the youngest player in the Major Leagues. As such, he was the first player born in the 1980s to make his major league debut when he made his first appearance on April 8. Sabathia led the league in hits per 9 innings pitched (7.44), was third in the league in win-loss percentage (17–5, .773), fourth in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (8.53), sixth in wins, and seventh in strikeouts (171). He finished second in the AL voting for Rookie of the Year, behind only Ichiro Suzuki. For his performance, Sabathia was rewarded with a four-year contract, with a club option for 2006, on February 11, 2002. In the 2002 season, he was tenth in the AL in strikeouts, with 149.

2003–04

In 2003, he had the tenth-best ERA in the AL (3.60). He was also named to the American League All-Star team for the first time, with a repeat appearance in 2004.

2005-06

In 2005, he was fourth in the AL in strikeouts/9 IP (7.37), seventh in strikeouts (161) and eighth in wins (15). This marked his fifth straight season of double digit wins to open a career. He also hit his first career home run as a batter in interleague play off of Elizardo Ramirez in May. The Indians went 20–11 in his starts. His strong five years with the Indians led the club to pick up his option for 2006. In 2006, he led the major leagues with 6 complete games. He also led the AL in shutouts (2), was third in ERA (3.22), sixth in strikeouts per 9 IP (8.03) and eighth in strikeouts (172). He became the first left-handed pitcher to start his career with six consecutive seasons of double digit wins.

2007-08

Sabathia collected his 1,000th career strikeout on May 21, fanning the player who beat him out for Rookie of the Year honors: Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners. He was also named to the American League All-Star team for the third time. On September 28, he became the youngest pitcher (27 years, 69 days) to record 100 career wins since Greg Maddux in 1993. On October 23, Sabathia won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding AL Pitcher. His pitching performance led the Cleveland Indians to their first American League Central Division Championship since 2001, his rookie season. For his performance, he was awarded the 2007 American League Cy Young Award joining Gaylord Perry as the only two Cleveland Indians pitchers to ever win the award. (Cliff Lee became the third the following season.) Sabathia also won the coveted Warren Spahn Award given to the best left-handed pitcher in the Majors. Despite his strong regular season, Sabathia did not perform well against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. In two starts, he went 0–2 with a 10.45 ERA.

Sabathia began the 2008 season with a 6-8 record and a 3.83 ERA in 18 starts. He was leading the American League in strikeouts (123) and strikeouts per 9.0 innings (9.0) while ranking second in innings pitched (122.1) and tied for second in complete games (3). However, with the Indians out of playoff contention, they traded their all-star pitcher to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league prospects.

Milwaukee Brewers

2008

On July 7, 2008, Sabathia was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Matt LaPorta, pitchers Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, and Michael Brantley. During his press conference, Sabathia made it known to the assembled members of the media that he would prefer his name to be spelled "CC" rather than "C.C." He recorded his first win with the Brewers on July 8, 2008 against the Colorado Rockies. Sabathia was 17–10 overall (11–2 with Milwaukee) with a 2.70 ERA and was second in the majors (behind Tim Lincecum) with 251 strikeouts. Sabathia pitched three complete games in his first four starts with the Brewers, winning all four.

On July 30, 2008, Sabathia took out a large $12,870 ad in the sports section of Cleveland’s daily newspaper, The Plain Dealer. The ad, signed by Sabathia, his wife Amber, and his family read:

Thank you for 10 great years ... You’ve touched our lives with your kindness, love and generosity. We are forever grateful! It’s been a privilege and an honor!

On August 31, 2008, Sabathia threw what was ruled as a one-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in PNC Park. The one hit for the Pirates came off of a check swing by Andy LaRoche in the fifth inning that rolled fair and was bobbled by Sabathia on an attempted bare-handed pickup. The team sent in an appeal to Major League Baseball to try to get the hit ruled as an error, but were unsuccessful. Sabathia struck out eleven in the Brewers' 7–0 win over the Pirates, making Sabathia's ninth complete game in the 2008 season. On Sept. 28, 2008, Sabathia pitched a 4-hitter against the Cubs to win 3–1 in the final game of the season, sending the Brewers to their first playoffs for the first time as a National League club and the first time since losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 World Series. It was Sabathia's 10th complete game of the year, the most complete games by any pitcher in a single season since Randy Johnson threw 12 in 1999.

Sabathia was sixth in the voting for the 2008 NL MVP award, behind Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Ryan Braun, Manny Ramirez, and Lance Berkman.

New York Yankees

On December 18, 2008, Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the New York Yankees. It was the largest contract in MLB history given out to a pitcher.

Postseason

Sabathia holds a lifetime postseason record of 2 wins and 3 losses in 5 games. He has pitched a total of 25 postseason innings, giving up 22 earned runs resulting in a 7.92 ERA.

Pitching

Sabathia has a 94–99 mph fastball, a 10-to-4 slider (Sabathia calls it a cutter) from 84 to 86 mph, and an 11-to-5 curve from 79 to 82 mph. He also exhibits good command of his pitches, posting a 5.65 K/BB ratio in 2007.

Batting

In interleague play as a member of the American League, Sabathia had a career batting average of .300 with two home runs and seven RBI in 40 ABs, including a 440-foot home run on June 21, 2008, off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park. On July 13, 2008, in his second game with the Brewers, Sabathia hit his second home run of the season off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey, becoming the third pitcher in history to homer in both leagues in the same season and the first since Earl Wilson did it in 1970 with Detroit and San Diego.

Stance on black players in MLB

On March 14, 2007, Sabathia addressed ESPN, criticizing Major League Baseball for not doing extra to make sure there is an adequate African American presence in the game and that it was an on-going crisis. Sabathia has urged Bud Selig to help endorse Little League Baseball in urban areas in an effort similar to that implemented by National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• CC Sabathia's official website

Awards and achievements
Preceded by José Contreras	American League Pitcher of the Month May 2006	Succeeded by Johan Santana
Preceded by Johan Santana	American League Cy Young Award 2007	Succeeded by Cliff Lee
Preceded by Johan Santana	Players Choice AL Outstanding Pitcher 2007	Succeeded by Cliff Lee
Preceded by Dan Haren	National League Pitcher of the month July 2008, August 2008	Succeeded by Johan Santana

Template:Persondata {{subst:#if:Sabathia, CC|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1980}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:LIVING}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1980 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:LIVING}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}