TAMPA, Fla. – The chemistry changed immediately when CC Sabathia first walked into the Yankees’ clubhouse in 2009. Delivering on his reputation as a dominant ace, he also proved to be an exceptional teammate, beginning a ride that concluded with the franchise’s 27th World Series championship.
Now Sabathia will have a permanent place in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.
The Yankees announced Wednesday that Sabathia’s No. 52 is set to be retired, with a plaque in his honor set to be dedicated prior to the club’s Sept. 26 game against the Orioles.
A 2025 inductee to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Sabathia will be the 24th Yankees player or manager to have his number retired. He’s the first since Paul O’Neill (No. 21) on Aug. 21, 2022.
Sabathia joins four other members of the Bombers’ most recent World Series-winning club to have their numbers retired: Derek Jeter (2), Andy Pettitte (46), Jorge Posada (20) and Mariano Rivera (42).
“I think we all felt the pressure of the new stadium and all these different signings; the clubhouse chemistry and all of that different stuff,” Sabathia has said. “We felt it, but that team was so good and we were so connected. That was one of our driving forces, to be honest.”
Sabathia’s No. 52 is the 23rd number retired by the Yankees, as No. 8 was retired for catchers Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra on July 22, 1972.
Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract before the 2009 season, a deal that represented the largest ever issued to a free-agent pitcher at that time.
Sabathia went 19-8 with a 3.37 ERA in 34 starts for the Yankees that season. The team went 4-1 in his five postseason starts as Sabathia earned the American League Championship Series MVP Award, going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in a six-game series win over the Angels.
But his impact went beyond the field. Those Yanks had plenty of veteran presence, but they needed a connector to help them mesh. That responsibility went to Sabathia, who united the team, including organizing team barbecues and group trips to NBA games.
“When you have a player of his stature displaying that type of selflessness, it tends to manifest itself inside every corner of the clubhouse,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “CC was a difference-maker for this organization in a multitude of ways.”
Sabathia continued to excel from 2010-12, making three consecutive All-Star teams. He then experienced struggles and injury issues that included season-ending right knee surgery in July 2014.
Sabathia’s velocity diminished as he advanced into his mid- to late 30s, prompting him to huddle with Pettitte, who’d similarly needed late-career reinvention to lean on a cutter and prioritize control.
The resurgent Sabathia pitched to a 14-5 record and a 3.69 ERA in 2017 for a Yankees club that finished one win shy of the World Series.
“The biggest separator for CC was his mentality. He was tenacious,” Pettitte said. “He had that bulldog approach to the point where he had a lack of care for his own well-being at times, and he wanted to take the ball every chance he could. He was a true warrior on the mound, and that type of makeup is very rare.”
In an oft-cited example of Sabathia’s standing as a fiery competitor and loyal teammate, he was ejected from his final start of the 2018 season for hitting the Rays’ Jesús Sucre, responding after the Yanks’ Austin Romine was thrown behind earlier in the game.
Ejected six outs shy of earning a $500,000 bonus, Sabathia did not shy away from his intent, saying, "For me, it was more just about taking care of my guys.” (The Yankees quietly paid his bonus anyway.)
Over 11 seasons in pinstripes, Sabathia went 134-88 with a 3.81 ERA and 1,700 strikeouts in 307 games (306 starts). In franchise history, he ranks fourth in strikeouts, seventh in starts, 10th in wins and 11th in innings pitched.
“The thing that means the most to me is just hearing my teammates talk about how much they loved playing behind me, how much I loved competing and how much they loved being a teammate of mine,” Sabathia said.
“The numbers are the numbers. You go out and do whatever you can, and the results are the results, but it's about how you treat people. It's about how you go about your business. Hopefully, I did that the right way.”