CC Sabathia

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CC Sabathia bigraphy, stories - American professional baseball player, pitcher

CC Sabathia : biography

July 21, 1980 –

Carsten Charles "CC" Sabathia (born July 21, 1980) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Upon signing with the Yankees prior to the 2009 season, Sabathia became the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. Currently in his 13th year as a major league pitcher, Sabathia has never had more losses than wins in a season. He attended high school with his future wife, Amber.

Sabathia played the first seven and a half seasons of his career with the Cleveland Indians, where he won the Cy Young Award. He played the second half of the 2008 MLB season with the Milwaukee Brewers, leading them to the Wild Card, their first playoff appearance in 26 years. In the offseason, Sabathia left via free agency and signed with the New York Yankees. Sabathia is regarded as one of the most durable pitchers in MLB, having amassed an average of over 200 innings pitched per season during his career.

Professional baseball career

Cleveland Indians (2001–2008)

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 , 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. He was named the Indians’ 2000 Minor League Player of the Year (receiving the "Lou Boudreau Award").

In , he was the youngest player in the Major Leagues. Sabathia led the league in hits per 9 innings pitched (7.44), was third in the league in win–loss 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. Sabathia signed a four-year $9.5 million contract with the Indians, with a club option for , on February 23, . In the season, he was tenth in the AL in strikeouts, with 149.

In , 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 .

The Indians picked up their $7 million club option for on April 27, and Sabathia signed a two-year, $17.75 million deal. In , 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 threw the fastest fastball in the AL in 2005, averaging 94.7 miles per hour. He also hit his first career home run as a batter in interleague play off of Ryan Dempster in May. The Indians went 20–11 in his starts. In 2006, he led the major leagues with 6 complete games. 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.

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 . On October 23, Sabathia won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding AL Pitcher. 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. (Cliff Lee became the third the following season.) Sabathia also won the Warren Spahn Award given to the best left-handed pitcher in the Majors. 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.