After an excellent 19-year career, CC Sabathia officially announced that the 2019 season will be his last — and he can be proud of the legacy he will leave behind.
CC Sabathia’s 19-year career in Major League Baseball has been a tad bumpy at times, especially over the last few years. But nonetheless, he made his mark as one of the league’s most dominant lefthanders of the 21st century.
When Sabathia walks away from baseball after the 2019 season, having officially announced that he will retire when it’s over, he’ll leave with a legacy that he can look back on and be proud of.
As he nears the age of 39, Sabathia has already accomplished the things that most pitchers dream about. He is a six-time All-Star. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2007 as a member of the Cleveland Indians. He won a World Series ring in 2009 as a member of the New York Yankees, even earning the ALCS MVP award the same year.
With the injuries piling up over the last few seasons, it’s the right time for Sabathia to hang it up. All that’s left for him to do is take one last ride around the block during the 2019 season, try to reach a few milestones (such as 3,000 career strikeouts and 250 career wins), and try to help the Yankees win their 28th championship banner.
“I didn’t want to overstay my welcome or anything like that,” Sabathia said in his news conference, via ESPN.com. “I wanted to be effective and be able to go out and feel like I have a chance to help the team win. I feel like I’m still able to do that.
“Being able to go out with my last year and just giving everything, hopefully that’ll turn out good for me and not trying to save something for 2020 or years after that. This is it. This is the final year.”
Though Sabathia’s career began in Cleveland, and included a very brief stop in Milwaukee midway through, he will have spent 11 seasons pitching for MLB’s most historic franchise, the Yankees. And winning a World Series in New York can only be considered one of baseball’s all-time great accomplishments.
After this season, Sabathia can finally walk away from baseball knowing that he left everything on the table over the last 19 years, and he’ll always be remembered as one of the best hurlers of this generation.