The decisions we make define our lives, impacting people and the world around us. Some decisions are small (“Yes, I will have extra guacamole on my burrito!”), some are big (“Yes, I will marry you!”), and then there’s the decision that Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia made in 2018. By anybody’s standards, it was huge.
In his final game of the season, Sabathia was pitching against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was just two innings away from earning a $500,000 bonus for pitching 155 innings during the season. But after Tampa Bay reliever Andrew Kittredge threw a pitch behind the neck of Yankees catcher Austin Romine, Sabathia had his thoughts on something besides protecting his sizeable payday. He decided to protect his teammates instead.
Despite getting a warning from the ump, Sabathia hit Tampa Bay Rays’ batter Jesus Sucre in the sixth inning and was promptly ejected from the game. His bonus was gone, but his loyalty was alive and well. (And, happily, so was his bonus. When the season ended, the Yanks paid their star his bonus anyway.)
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I asked Sabathia about the incident and his life in and out of baseball at a recent Poland Spring event at Yankee Stadium. Some highlights of that conversation are below. And if you are looking for even more highlights? Scroll down to check out the video of me facing the big man in the batting cage. If there are any baseball scouts reading this, I want to be clear that I am undrafted and ready to go!
Looking back on throwing that fateful pitch
“I’d do it a hundred times out of a hundred. It’s just one of those things where if you’re on a team, it’s your family. I don’t really make decisions based on money.”
On pushing through adversity
“I think just whatever your process is, try doing the small things every single day. You stack up enough good days in a row and you look up one day and then you’ll be where you want to be.”
On coaching his kids
“I never coach my kids. Just let them play and have fun and be kids and enjoy the game. My dad was an overbearing coach, and it kind of made our relationship hard. So I chose the opposite approach.”
On getting back in the game
“Oh, no, no, no. I watch the game as a fan. I don’t have any lingering baseball feelings. I don’t get emotional up or down about it. If the Yankees lose or whatever, it doesn’t bother me. I’m just a fan now.”
Watch CC Sabathia face his toughest batter yet
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