No stranger to pitching on short rest, CC Sabathia made his way toward Yankee Stadium’s mound a day early on Friday.
The Hall of Fame lefty was in the Bronx to have his No. 52 retired, and his plaque placed in Monument Park. The ceremony was initially supposed to take place before Saturday’s matchup with the Orioles, but the region’s incoming nor’easter forced a preemptive cancelation of that game.
Instead, the Yankees and Baltimore played a single-admission, windy doubleheader on Friday. Sabathia’s ceremony, which began at 3:15 p.m., took place before Game 1 and in a largely empty ballpark.
Still, Sabathia described the experience as “surreal,” especially since Brian Cashman had to talk him into signing a seven-year, $161 million contract in December 2008.
“I never envisioned myself going into Monument Park, and I think that was the reason why I was so scared to come here,” Sabathia said. “You don’t ever think that you’re going to win the Yankee fans or the city over.
“That’s why I’ve said the last couple of weeks that this feels bigger to me than the Hall of Fame, because I know what was at stake when I came here.”
52 Forever. @CC_Sabathia ♾ pic.twitter.com/QyzdifpVHl
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 25, 2026
While former Yankees teammates Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Dellin Betances and Chris Young were still able to attend Sabathia’s big day — Cashman and the pitcher’s family were also among those present — the rescheduling left a lot of fans upset because only tickets dated for Friday, Sept. 25 were eligible for the day’s doubleheader. Tickets dated for Saturday, Sept. 26, the original day of Sabathia’s number retirement, can be exchanged for a similar regular season game at Yankee Stadium, the Bombers announced Thursday.
In other words, those who bought tickets for Saturday for the sole purpose of seeing Sabathia did not have stubs for Friday’s ceremony.
“Unfortunately, we had the weather pop up,” Sabathia said, noting that some of his people also couldn’t make it because of the altered plans. “So it’s been a tough adjustment, but I’m just glad that the Yankees were able to adjust.”
Sabathia said that the Yankees gave him the choice to push the ceremony to next year, but he had a lot of family and friends who were able to make it, so he opted to have the event on Friday.
He jokingly added that he was “trying to get this done,” as he has grown “tired of ceremonies” since being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025.
“I’ve been doing ceremonies for like two years straight,” Sabathia said with a laugh, “so I’m like, ‘Let’s get this done.’ But I love everybody that bought tickets, and I’m just sorry that they couldn’t be here. Thank you for all the support the 11 years I played here in the Bronx, and continue [to get] now.”
Those who had Friday tickets lucked out, as they unexpectedly saw Sabathia honored and had a chance to get the day’s planned giveaway, a bobblehead depicting Knicks star Josh Hart in a Yankees jersey. That went to the first 18,000 fans in attendance, though they had to arrive at Yankee Stadium in the middle of a work day to get it.
While Sabathia’s ceremony did not go as planned — even his Monument Park plaque had Saturday’s date on it — the Yankees were still able to recognize a pitcher who wore pinstripes from 2009-2019. The ace of the franchise’s last championship team in 2009, the Vallejo, Calif., native went 134-88 with a 3.81 ERA and three All-Star selections with the Yanks.
While the 46-year-old won his only Cy Young with Cleveland in 2007 and went on a legendary stretch run with Milwaukee in 2008, Sabathia boosted his Hall of Fame résumé with the Yankees, winning ALCS MVP in 2009 before securing the only World Series title of his career.
Sabathia, who spent eight seasons in Cleveland, is in the club’s Hall of Fame. He is also on Milwaukee’s Wall of Honor despite spending just half a season there. However, there is an interlocking NY insignia on his plaque in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.
AP Photo/Noah K. Murray
CC Sabathia smiles during his Monument Park induction ceremony at Yankee Stadium on Friday. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
Sabathia finished his 19-year career with six All-Star selections, 251 wins, a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts over 3,577.1 innings. He is one of 19 pitchers in the 3,000-strikeout club, and he finished his Yankees career with a 3.42 ERA over 105.1 total postseason frames.
That includes a 1.98 ERA over five starts during the 2009 playoffs.
As great a pitcher as Sabathia was, Aaron Boone lauded his character before Friday’s games.
Boone, who played with Sabathia in Cleveland before managing him in New York, called the southpaw “one of my favorite all-time teammates.” The skipper also noted that Sabathia and Brett Gardner, who played with Yankees captain Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton — both paid close attention to Friday’s ceremony, as did Gerrit Cole — continue to have an impact on the team’s clubhouse and culture.
“Obviously, he’s a Hall of Fame pitcher, and that’s a huge part of his legacy. But I think everyone that ever got to play with him felt a brother, a friend, an unbelievable teammate who was incredibly approachable, really easy to be around, and kind of a warrior,” Boone said. “I’ve been blessed to have, by and large — I mean, we’ve had our moments — what I would view as a very strong clubhouse. It’s something that I put a lot into, and a lot of stock into. Our team and players put a lot of stock into that, and a lot of that comes from guys like CC and Gardy and the guys that came before them and passed all that stuff down.
“So CC’s had a major influence on what our clubhouse looks like now. His fingerprints are on that because of who he was as a competitor and as a teammate.”
Sabathia, meanwhile, said that his leadership style — letting those around him be themselves — was “inherent” to his personality and further fostered during his days in Cleveland.
A seasoned veteran by the time he got to New York, he was then able to leave a lasting mark on the Yankees’ clubhouse.
“I always tried to make sure that I knew my guys off the field, so that if we got into it on the field or something in the clubhouse, that I was coming from the right angle or a good angle to be able to talk to them,” Sabathia said. “So I became really close with all the guys in the clubhouse, whether they were young guys, old guys, catchers, pitchers, whoever it was.
“I just wanted to get to know them and be close because we all gotta be pulling from the same side of the rope to try to win.”
