New York Yankees Star CC Sabathia Announces His Retirement After 19 Seasons

October 22, 2019 by Gregory Molette in Sports with 0 Comments

New York Yankees Star CC Sabathia Announces His Retirement After 19 Seasons

The New York Yankees star pitcher CC Sabathia took to Twitter to announce his retirement after 19 seasons including more than a decade with the Yankees on Monday (Oct. 21st). The pitcher wrote an emotional send-off recognizing his former teammates from his days with Cleveland, Milwaukee and, of course, New York, where he won a World Series title in 2009. In his message, Sabathia writes,

“I’m so thankful to have experienced this journey with every teammate past and present. All I ever wanted was to be a great teammate and win. I’m so proud of this year’s team, we fought til the end. Love you guys! I’m going to miss going out there on the mound and competing, but it’s time to say farewell. Thank you, baseball!”

During his career he appeared in 561 games, threw 3,577 innings, and posted a 3.74 ERA (116 ERA+) and 2.81 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His 63 wins above replacement put him just below the threshold for Hall of Fame pitchers (73), but the difference in eras is likely to work in his favor.

Sabathia’s announcement follows the Yankees elimination from the playoffs on Saturday (Oct. 19th), by the Astros, 6-4. During their match-up over the weekend, Sabathia separated his shoulder during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, causing the Yankees to remove him from the game.

After appearing to experience some discomfort on the mound, CC Sabathia leaves the game. Yankees fans give him a standing ovation as he walks off the field. pic.twitter.com/rLf7v0vM5s

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 18, 2019

Sabathia, 39, talked to his wife about ending his baseball career the night before his last game. He says,

“I told Amber (his wife) last night that this was the best way for it to end for me, because of the way I’ve been feeling, loving the bullpen, jogging out, feeling pretty good. I feel like about July of next year, I’ll be like, I think I can pitch.”

Sabathia was the youngest player in the AL when he debuted, and he goes out one of the oldest players in baseball. That’s fitting, as he was always built to last.

Congratulations CC Sabathia!