As the title says, my question is, is it possible for Yankee fans to hate CC Sabathia?
He is in the midst of another fine season for the Yankees, standing at 19 wins, matching his win total from last season with a month to play. All the man does is win, winning 38 games in his two seasons with the Yankees, especially at Yankee Stadium. Since the All-Star break last season, he is 16-0 at Yankee Stadium, including 10-0 in the Bronx this year.
He also genuinely loves it in New York. When he signed his $161 million contract last offseason, he included an opt out clause, which allows him to opt out after the first three years of the deal. It is safe to assume that he wanted this clause in his contract because he was unaware if he would truly love it in New York. But, when Mark Hale of the New York post asked CC the question this season if he will opt out, he replied with this:
“I’m here,” Sabathia said. “Hundred percent.”
“I think you know I’ve built a house here, right?” he said. “My kids go to school here. We live here year round. So I’m not going anywhere.
To add to his genuine love for New York, he also genuinely loves his teammates. Right from the beginning, Sabathia was organizing team outings, such as taking some of his teammates to Orlando Magic games during spring training 2009. He was an instant hit in the Yankee clubhouse.
Sabathia also sticks up for and defends his teammates. Example A: Earlier this season on May 7th, the Yankees were in Fenway Park facing Josh Beckett. Beckett threw at Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter, and Jeter’s was with the bases loaded. He also came close to hitting Fransisco Cervelli and Nick Swisher. Who was the first Yankee to bark at Beckett? Sabathia, on the top step of the dugout voicing his displeasure with the hard throwing right hander. The very next day, Sabathia defended his teammates, unleashing a 98 mph fastball at Dustin Pedroia, the first pitch he saw in the at-bat.
Example B: On June 25th of this season, the Yankees were playing Joe Torre’s Los Angeles Dodgers. Notorious head hunter Vicente Padilla was on the mound for the Dodgers. Sabathia drilled Padilla with a pitch on the leg, while glaring at him the entire time while he was recovering and walking towards first base. Last season, Padilla drilled Mark Teixeira twice in a game last June, so the bean ball was naturally seen as retaliation. And, based on the body language of both Sabathia and Padilla, it is fair to say that it was retaliation.
And who could forget his Dallas Braden comments during the whole Braden vs Alex Rodriguez debacle.
“He’s a clown,” Sabathia said of Braden. “Guy says he’s from the 209, what the [bleep] is that? That’s where I’m from and I don’t know what he’s talking about. Two-oh-nine. He needs to just calm down—put that in the paper. That’s just tired.” (NorthJersey.com)
Sabathia has been nothing but a pleasure during his first two seasons in New York. Hes been something that the Yankees had lacked from 2004-2008. A true ace. He embraces the role, and excels, and even that may be an understatement. So I pose the question again, how can Yankee fans not love CC?
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