CC Sabathia

Infobox MLB player
name = CC Sabathia

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width = 200
caption = Sabathia with the Indians
team = Milwaukee Brewers
number = 52
position = Starting pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|mf=yes|1980|7|21
birthplace = city-state|Vallejo|California
bats = Left
throws = Left
debutdate = April 8
debutyear = 2001
debutteam = Cleveland Indians
statyear = September 26, 2008
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 116-73
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 3.68
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 1,386
stat4label = Batting average
stat4value = .271
stat5label = Home runs
stat5value = 3
stat6label = Runs batted in
stat6value = 13
teams =
*Cleveland Indians (by|2001–by|2008)
*Milwaukee Brewers (by|2008–present)
awards =
*AL Cy Young Award winner (by|2007)
*3x All-Star selection (by|2003,by|2004, by|2007)
*Led AL in innings pitched in 2007

Carsten Charles "CC" Sabathia (born July 21, 1980 in Vallejo, California) is an American Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League. Sabathia played the first seven plus seasons of his career with the Cleveland Indians where he won the mlby|2007 AL Cy Young Award.

High school career

Sabathia attended Vallejo High School, where he lettered in baseball, basketball, and football. In baseball, he compiled a mark of 6–0 with an 0.77 ERA (46.2 IP, 14 H, 82 K) during his senior season. Coming out of the draft he was the top high school prospect in Northern California according to Baseball America.

In football, he was an all-conference tight end. He received scholarship offers to play college football, including one from USC, and actually signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Hawaiokinai. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=282332 |title=CC Sabathia Biography |accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=MLB.com |publisher= |date= ]

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

Early career

Sabathia was drafted in the first round (20th overall) by the Indians in the 1998 MLB Draft. He signed for a $1.3 million bonus.

In by|2000, he was selected for the 28-man United States Olympic Team roster. He appeared in one pre-Olympic tournament game in Sydney, Australia, but was not on the official 24-man, Gold Medal-winning roster because he was called up by the Cleveland Indians.

In by|2001, he was the youngest player in the Major Leagues. As such, he was the first player born in the 1980s to make his major league debut when he made his first appearance on April 8. Sabathia led the league in hits per 9 innings pitched (7.44), was third in the league in won-lost percentage (17–5, .773), fourth in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (8.53), sixth in wins and seventh in strikeouts (171). He finished second in the AL voting for rookie of the year, behind only Ichiro Suzuki. For his performance, Sabathia was rewarded with a four-year contract, with a club option for by|2006. on February 11 by|2002 [cite web |url=http://ccsabathia52.com/mlb.html |title=CC Sabathia's official website Season Highlights |accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=ccsabathia52.com |publisher= |date= ] . In the by|2002 season, he was tenth in the AL in strikeouts, with 149.

2003–2004

In by|2003, he had the tenth-best ERA in the AL (3.60). He was also named to the American League All-Star team for the first time, with a repeat appearance in by|2004.

2005

In by|2005, he was fourth in the AL in strikeouts/9 IP (7.37), seventh in strikeouts (161) and eighth in wins (15). This marked his fifth straight season of double digit wins to open a career. He also hit his first career home run as a batter in interleague play off of Elizardo Ramirez in May. The Indians went 20–11 in his starts. His strong five years with the Indians led the club to pick up his option for 2006.

2006

In 2006, he led the major leagues in complete games with 6. He also led the AL in shutouts (2), was third in ERA (3.22), sixth in strikeouts per 9 IP (8.03) and eighth in strikeouts (172). He became the first left-handed pitcher to start his career with six consecutive seasons of double digit wins. [cite web|url=http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=282332&y=2006|title=Player Information: 2006|publisher=Milwaukee Brewers|accessdate=2008-07-11]

2007

Sabathia collected his 1,000th career strikeout on May 21, fanning the player who beat him out for Rookie of the Year honors: Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners. He was also named to the American League All-Star team for the third time. On September 28, he became the youngest pitcher (27 years, 69 days) to record 100 career wins since Greg Maddux in by|1993. On October 23, Sabathia won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding AL Pitcher. [cite web |url=http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/awards/pa|title=MLB - awards - Yahoo! Sports|accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=Yahoo.com |publisher= |date= ] His pitching performance led the Cleveland Indians to their first American League Central Division Championship since 2001, his rookie season. For his performance, he was awarded the 2007 American League Cy Young Award joining Gaylord Perry as the only two Cleveland Indians pitchers to ever win the award. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071113&content_id=2299400&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb|title=MLB - awards - Yahoo! Sports|accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=|publisher= |date= ] Sabathia also won the coveted Warren Spahn Award given to the best left-handed pitcher in the Majors. [cite web |url=http://www.oklahomasportsmuseum.com/warr.htm|title=Oklahoma Sports Museum | Warren Spahn Award |accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=|publisher= |date= ] Despite his strong regular season, Sabathia did not perform well against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. In two starts, he went 0–2 with a 10.45 ERA. After leaving Cleveland, Sabathia took out a large $12,870 ad in the sports section of Cleveland’s daily newspaper, The Plain Dealer. The ad, signed by CC, his wife Amber and the Sabathia family read:

Milwaukee Brewers

On July 7, 2008, Sabathia was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Matt LaPorta, pitchers Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, [cite web |url=http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20080707&content_id=3084949&vkey=pr_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil|title=Brewers acquire CC Sabathia|accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=MLB.com |publisher= |date= ] and Michael Brantley.Fact|date=October 2008 During his press conference, Sabathia made it known to the assembled members of the media that he would prefer his name to be spelled "CC" rather than "C.C." [cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/07/07/cc.name.ap/index.html?eref=T1|title=Punctuation purge: New Brewers P Sabathia ditches dots in 'CC'|accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=SI.com |publisher= |date= ] He recorded his first win with the Brewers on July 8, 2008. CC is 15–9 overall (9–1 with Milwaukee) with a 2.77 ERA and led the majors with 217 strikeouts. Sabathia pitched three complete games in his first four starts with the Brewers, winning all four.

On August 31, 2008, Sabathia threw what was ruled as a one-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in PNC Park. The one ruled hit for the Pirates came off of a check swing by Andy LaRoche in the 5th inning that rolled fair and was bobbled by CC on an attempted bare handed pickup. The team sent in an appeal to Major League Baseball to try to get the hit ruled as an error, but were unsuccessful.Fact|date=September 2008 Sabathia struck out eleven in the Brewers' 7-0 win over the Pirates, making Sabathia's ninth complete game in the 2008 season. On Sept. 28, 2008, Sabathia pitched a 4-hitter against the Cubs to win 3-1 in the final game of the season, sending the Brewers to their first playoff appearance since 1982. It was Sabathia's 10th complete game of the year, the most complete games by any pitcher in a single season since Randy Johnson threw 12 in 1999.

Pitching

Sabathia has a 94–98 mph fastball, a 10-to-4 slider (Sabathia calls it a cutter) from 84 to 86 mph, and an 11-to-5 curve from 79 to 82 mph. He also exhibits good command of his pitches, posting an exceptional 5.65 K/BB ratio in 2007. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_stats_player.jsp?c_id=mlb&playerID=282332&section1=1&statSet1=1&section2=1&section3=1&statSet3=1&statSet2=30|title=The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Stats: Individual Player Stats|accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=MLB.com |publisher= |date= ]

Batting

In interleague play as a member of the American League, Sabathia had a career batting average of .300 with two home runs and seven RBI in 40 ABs, including a 440-foot home run on June 21, 2008, off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park [cite web |url=http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200806212976155|title=Baseball Video Highlights & Clips Sabathia's long solo homer|accessdate=2008-07-10 |work=MLB.com |publisher= |date= .] On July 13, 2008, in his second game with the Brewers, Sabathia hit his second home run of the season off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey, becoming the third pitcher in history to homer in both leagues in the same season and the first since Earl Wilson did it in 1970 with Detroit and San Diego. [cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=772030|title=Sizzle and Pop|last=Witrado|first=Anthony|date=2008-07-13|work=Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel|accessdate=2008-07-13]

Stance on black players in MLB

On March 14, 2007, Sabathia addressed ESPN, criticizing Major League Baseball for not doing extra to make sure there is an adequate African American presence in the game and that it was an on-going crisis. [cite web | url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2798719 | title=Sabathia pitches for more African-Americans in game |accessdate=2008-07-10 | author=Associated Press | date=2007-03-14 | publisher=ESPN] CC has urged Bud Selig to help endorse Little League Baseball in urban areas in an effort similar to that implemented by National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern.

References

External links

* [http://ccsabathia52.com/ CC Sabathia's official website]
* [http://www.dugoutcentral.com/blog/?p=1682 Dugout Central's CC Sabathia Scouting Report]

succession box
title = American League Pitcher of the Month
before = José Contreras
years = May by|2006
after = Johan Santanasuccession box
title = National League Pitcher of the month
years = July 2008, August 2008
before = Dan Haren
after = none
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