CC Sabathia

CC Sabathia
Sabathia warming up for the Indians
Milwaukee Brewers – No. 52
Starting pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Left
debut
April 8, 2001, for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics (through July 29, 2008)
Win-Loss	110-71
Earned run average	3.78
Strikeouts	1,299
Batting average	.273
Home runs	3
Runs batted in	8
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2001-2008) Milwaukee Brewers (2008-present)
Career highlights and awards
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 Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League. Sabathia played the first seven plus seasons of his career with the Cleveland Indians where he won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award.

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 won-lost 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.

2003–2004

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

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.

2006

In 2006, he led the major leagues in complete games with 6. 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

Sabathia collected his 1,000th career strikeout on May 21, on 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. Sabathia also won the coveted Warren Spahn Award given to the best left-handed pitcher in the Majors. Despite his strong regular season, Sabathia got lit up against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. In two starts, he went 0–2 with a 10.45 ERA. After leaving Cleveland Sabathia showed his class by taking out a large ad in the sports section of Cleveland’s daily newspaper, The Plain Dealer —a $12,870 thank you to the community, the team and its fans. The ad, signed by CC, his wife Amber and the Sabathia 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!”

Milwaukee Brewers

On July 7, 2008, Sabathia was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Matt LaPorta, pitchers Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, and a player to be named later. 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. At the 2008 All-Star break, CC was 8–8 overall (3–0 with Milwaukee) with a 3.67 ERA and led the majors with 137 strikeouts. In his third Brewers win, Sabathia struck out 10 while pitching a complete game, the fifth of the season; he allowed four hits and walked none. He then pitched another complete game in his next start, this one being a shut out, against the St. Louis Cardinals. On Wednesday, July 30th, Sabathia bought a full-page ad, worth $12,870, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s sports section, thanking the fans for their ten years of support.

Pitching

Sabathia has a 94–98 mph fastball, a 10-to-4 slider (Sabathia calls it a cutter) from 84–86 mph, and an 11-to-5 curve from 79–82 mph. He also exhibits good command of his pitches, posting an exceptional 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. C.C. has urged Bud Selig to help endorse Little League Baseball in urban areas in an effort similar to that implemented by NBA Commissioner David Stern.

External links

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