Sabathia regrets weekend incident in Toronto
NEW YORK -- CC Sabathia expressed regret for engaging hecklers outside a Toronto nightclub this past weekend, saying that it was "a bad decision on my part" to be involved in a brief incident that was captured on a cellphone camera and posted to TMZSports.com.
The video showed Sabathia exiting the nightclub early on Saturday morning, yelling and pointing off screen before being shoved into the back seat of a taxi, losing a brightly colored shoe at one point. A second video showed a bigger incident, which Sabathia did not appear to be involved in.
"I probably should have just kept quiet and got in the cab," Sabathia said. "I'm just glad I ended up getting in the cab before everything that went down. I didn't know anything that was happening. I didn't know all that big fighting that happened after. Just a bad decision on my part."
Sabathia said that he was accompanied by some family members and friends that evening. He was heckled as the group left the nightclub; Sabathia said that he did not remember exactly what was said, but that it was personal in nature. He said that it was not racially motivated.
"I think I was definitely lucky the other night, that I had friends to push me in the cab, that care about me enough to get me out of that situation," Sabathia said.
Sabathia said that he became aware of the video on Saturday morning when it was posted to Twitter. He said that the most difficult part would be explaining the video to his 12-year-old son.
"It happens. You don't hide," Sabathia said. "I go out all the time, I go to dinner, I do different things. Sometimes it's a bad night. They caught me at a bad time. They got a bad reaction."
Manager Joe Girardi said that he learned of the video on Monday, but he said that it was not a factor in pushing Sabathia's start back to Tuesday. Bryan Mitchell is starting Monday against the Twins instead.
"I don't really have any comment on it," Girardi said. "We'll just move forward, and it has nothing to do with us changing our rotation, as people might have assumed. I was just made aware of it today."
Girardi declined to say if Sabathia faces discipline from the team. He said that he was glad his career did not take place in the smartphone era.
"I think you have to be prepared that at times something could happen and you have to deal with it, but you try to remind your players all the time, everything is fair game," Girardi said. "There is no privacy in this world anymore."