CC Sabathia’s career ended abruptly.
Yes, the longtime Yankees left-hander had announced months earlier his plans to retire after the 2019 season, but his final appearance did not go as ceremoniously as Derek Jeter’s or Mariano Rivera’s.
As an appreciative Yankee Stadium crowd chanted “CC” in the eighth inning of an ALCS Game 4 loss, Sabathia fired an 89-mph cutter to Houston Astros star George Springer for a ball.
The offering left Sabathia in visible discomfort, and, after testing his durable left arm with a single warm-up toss, he walked off the field to a standing ovation.
Sabathia had suffered a shoulder dislocation and, as he later revealed, tears to his rotator cuff, labrum and biceps.
It was the last MLB pitch he’d ever throw.
“I think it’s just kind of fitting,” Sabathia said the following day. “I threw until I couldn’t anymore.”
Indeed, Sabathia left everything on the field throughout his 19-year MLB career with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees, during which he stood out as one of his era’s most dominant, dependable and clutch competitors.
On Tuesday, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America recognized Sabathia’s prolonged excellence by voting him into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Sabathia appeared on 86.8% of the ballots, pushing him past the 75% needed for induction.
He is one of three members of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025, joining former Yankees teammate Ichiro Suzuki, who received 99.7% of the vote, and former Mets closer Billy Wagner, who got 82.5%.
They will be officially inducted at a July 27 ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts in 3,577.1 innings from 2001-19. He is one of three left-handers to record at least 3,000 strikeouts, and one of 15 pitchers with 3,000 Ks and 250 wins.
A six-time All-Star selection, Sabathia won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award with Cleveland, with whom he spent his first seven ½ seasons.
He was traded to Milwaukee midway through 2008 and, despite his impending free agency, willingly pitched on three days’ rest in his final three starts of the regular season to help the Brewers make the playoffs. Sabathia finished 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts with Milwaukee, then pitched on short rest again in Game 2 of the NLDS.
That December, the Yankees signed Sabathia to a seven-year, $161 million contract, making him the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history to that point. In an above-and-beyond step, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman left the winter meetings in Las Vegas to meet with Sabathia and his family at their home in Vallejo, Calif., to help close the deal.
The 6-6, 300-pound Sabathia proved to be a worthwhile — and franchise-changing — investment. He went 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 36.1 innings over five starts in the 2009 postseason, earning ALCS MVP honors and helping the Yankees win what remains their most recent World Series championship.
He led the AL in wins in both of his first two seasons with the Yankees, including with a career-high 21 in 2010. He pitched at least 200 innings, won at least 15 games and posted an ERA no higher than 3.38 in each of his first four seasons with the Yankees.
Sabathia remained a steady rotation presence for the rest of his tenure, finishing his 11-year Yankee career with a 134-88 record, a 3.81 ERA and 1,700 strikeouts over 1918.0 innings in 307 appearances, including 306 starts. He has said he will “absolutely” enter the Hall as a Yankee.
He is of two first-ballot selections in this year’s class, joining Suzuki, who appeared on all but one of the ballots. Rivera, who was inducted in 2019, remains the only unanimous selection. Jeter received all but one vote in 2020.
The slap-hitting Suzuki was already a major star in his native Japan when he joined the Seattle Mariners in 2001. He quickly lived up to the hype, winning AL MVP and AL Rookie of the Year in 2001 after setting a rookie record with 242 hits.
In 2004, Suzuki set the MLB single-season record with 262 hits.
Suzuki, a speedy right fielder with a rocket throwing arm, earned an All-Star selection and won a Gold Glove in each of his first 10 MLB seasons, all with the Mariners.
Seattle traded a 38-year-old Suzuki to the Yankees midway through the 2012 season, and he remained in New York through 2014, hitting .281 over 360 games.
Suzuki also played for the Miami Marlins before finishing his career back with Seattle. He retired with a .311 average and 3,089 hits over 19 MLB seasons.
That production, coupled with his 1,278 hits in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, gave Suzuki 4,367 hits as a professional player — the most by anyone in baseball history. He is the first Japanese player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Wagner, meanwhile, was elected Tuesday in his 10th and final year on the Hall of Fame ballot.
He had missed last year’s class by only five votes.
Wagner pitched to a 2.31 ERA, a 0.998 WHIP and 1,196 strikeouts in 903.0 innings over 16 MLB seasons with the Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Mets, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves from 1995-2010.
His 422 saves rank eighth in MLB history and second among lefties.
Naturally right-handed, Wagner began throwing from the left side after breaking his right arm twice as a child. With that left arm, Wagner regularly reached triple-digits with a fastball he once dialed up to 103.1 mph.
Wagner is the ninth reliever to make the Hall of Fame, breaking through at a position that voters have long been stingy with.
His strikeout rate of 11.92 per nine innings ranks 13th in MLB history. Among the pitchers to throw at least 900 innings since 1920, Wagner’s 2.31 ERA is the second lowest, behind only Rivera’s 2.21. No one else’s is under 2.50.
Wagner signed a four-year, $43 million contract with the Mets before the 2006 season. He pitched to a 2.37 ERA and nailed down 101 saves with the Mets before being traded to Boston in August of 2009.
Finishing short of the Class of 2025 were former Mets and Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltrán, who appeared on 70.3% of the ballots in his third year of eligibility, and ex-Yankees outfielder Andruw Jones, who appeared on 66.2% in his eighth year.
Other notable omissions include former Yankees stars Alex Rodriguez, who received 37.1% of the vote in his fourth year of eligibility, and Andy Pettitte, who appeared on 27.9% of the ballots in his seventh year. Both made jumps in 2025, as Rodriguez finished at 34.8% and Pettitte got 13.5% last year.
They will all return to the ballot next year after clearing the 5% cutoff.