For almost twenty years, CC Sabathia brought fire, heart, and strikeouts to the mound. And now his legacy has finally arrived in Cooperstown as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

When Sabathia came out of the Cleveland bullpen in the spring of 2001, he pitched more than 180 innings and was second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Ichiro Suzuki. This was only the beginning of a career built on hard work and determination. Fast forward to 2025 and he got 86.8% of the BBWAA vote in his first year on the ballot. Let’s revisit his glorious journey.

CC Sabathia, a Hall of Famer: A look at his MLB career

CC Sabathia’s MLB career exemplifies longevity. Drafted in the first round in 1998 from Vallejo High School, he debuted in 2001 and quickly became a workhorse, pitching 180 1/3 innings as a 20-year-old. Over 19 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees, he amassed 251 wins and a .609 winning percentage. With 3,577 1/3 innings pitched in 561 games (560 starts), Sabathia is one of only fifteen pitchers in MLB history with at least 250 wins and 3,000 Ks. He is also only the third left-handed pitcher to achieve this, alongside Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson.

Sabathia logged 200 innings in 8 consecutive seasons, showcasing his consistency when even top pitchers struggled to do so. His lifetime WHIP of 1.26 and ERA of 3.74 are good confirmation of his continuous dominance. But CC Sabathia himself said that the numbers were merely icing on the cake: “I was pitching to just win games… the goal was just to perform at the highest level as I could every single day.”

Sabathia’s career evolved over the years. In 2007, he won the AL Cy Young Award with the Cleveland Indians, finishing with a 19–7 record and leading his team back to the playoffs. After being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008, he posted an impressive 11–2 record with a 1.65 ERA, helping the team break a 26-year playoff drought. Performance was so good that he signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the NYY, becoming the highest-paid pitcher at that time.

And that’s just a glimpse. There’s more!

A superstar on the mound: Diving deeper into Sabathia’s stats, records and achievements

Sabathia was a key part of the Yankees’ 27th World Series championship and won the ALCS MVP award along the way. After receiving the accolades, he said, “This is a great feeling. This is what you come here for, to play in the postseason games and try to perform.”

His 2010 season was another great one. He went 21–7 with a 3.18 ERA over 237 2/3 innings and struck out 197 batters. This solidified his spot as the anchor of the New York Yankees’ rotation. And the list goes on!

Sabathia was also a six-time All-Star (2003, 2004, 2007, 2010–12), led the league in complete games and shutouts twice, and won the Warren Spahn Award three years in a row (2007, 2008, 2009)—the award for the finest left-handed pitcher in the country. However, his career was not always blistering. He also had his setbacks.

His later years were marked by knee problems, including surgery in 2014 and a degenerative right-knee ailment that bothered him during his last seasons. His left shoulder partially dislocated during the 2019 ALCS, tragically ending his career.

Sabathia adapted his game to focus on finesse over speed and remained resilient until retiring at the end of 2019. Grit, not glamour, guided him from a Cleveland rookie to a Yankees superstar and a Hall of Famer. What’s your favorite CC Sabathia memory?