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CC Sabathia's career is officially over

CC Sabathia's career is officially over
20 Oct
2019
Not in Hall of Fame

With the Yankees post-season now officially over, the career of CC Sabathia is now officially over. Arguably, it ended three days before in Game 4, when he had to leave the game when his knee buckled and his shoulder appeared to give out.  He limped off the field and was replaced on the post-season roster.  This was not the way that he wanted to go out, but that is often the case for the great ones.

From Vallejo, California, Sabathia made his debut in 2001 with the Cleveland Indians and he would go 17 and 5 and finish behind Ichiro Suzuki for the American League Rookie of the Year.  The southpaw would later go to the All-Star Game in 2003 and 2004 and in 2007, where he would ho to his third All-Star Game, he would have his best season to date.  That year, he would go 19-7 with 209 Strikeouts and lead the AL in Innings Pitched (241.0) and SO/BB (5.65).  Sabathia would also win the Cy Young in that campaign.  

2008 would see him traded to the Milwaukee Brewers midway through the season.  Sabathia was an impending Free Agent, and Cleveland was not performing well.  He would finish off the season in the National League by going 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and help the Brewers make the playoffs.  Despite only having 17 Starts, he would finish fifth in Cy Young voting.

Sabathia would sign with the New York Yankees for the 2009 Season, and this will would be the third and final team he would play for.  That year, Sabathia would help the Bronx Bombers win the World Series and he would win the American League Championship Series MVP.  That year, he would lead the AL in Wins (19) and finished third in Cy Young Voting.  

The Pitcher would then go on a three-year run of All-Star Game selections and in 2010, he would again lead the AL in Wins with 21, a career-high.  He would also notably finish third and fourth in Cy Young voting in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Sabathia reached 3,000 Strikeouts this year, and retires with 3,093.  As of this writing, 18 Pitchers have reached the 3,000 K milestone, and all of those who are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame have been inducted with the exception of Curt Schilling.  It could be decades before we see a 300 Game winner in the Majors, and Sabathia retires with 251, which is arguably the “modern 300”.  He was the active leader in the category and he is 47thall-time.  

In terms of advanced statistics, Sabathia has a career bWAR of 62.5, which is below the average Hall of Famer (73.2), as is his 51.2 JAWS below the HOF average of 61.5.  Sabathia’s numbers might be low in those metrics, but he has been considered such a special for so long, that it should not hurt him at all.  The fact that he was a six-time All-Star, Cy Young Winner and a World Series Champion are in your face accomplishments, and that won’t be ignored.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish CC Sabathia the best in his post-playing career, and we would like to thank him for the memories. 

 

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