The New York Yankees honored Hall of Famer CC Sabathia prior to Sunday’s 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, and the former ace was able to reflect on his early days in pinstripes.
Sabathia recently told Tyler Kepner of The Athletic that influential recording artist Jay-Z gave him a bit of advice before his first season with the Yankees.
“You know what’s crazy?” Sabathia said, after bouncing his ceremonial first pitch. “When I first signed, that first night, we had a party at the 40/40 Club, and I was sitting with Jay-Z and one of his buddies, and they were talking about: ‘You need to win right away.’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about? I’m here for seven years.’ And they were like, ‘No, you need to win immediately.’”
While the lefty enjoyed a highly successful career with the Yankees, it could be argued that Sabathia’s first year in the Bronx was his finest. In addition to winning the World Series, Sabathia won ALCS MVP and posted a 3.37 ERA across 34 starts in the regular season.
Sabathia’s initial sense of urgency helped New York bring home their first title since 2000. The current Yankees are attempting to find a similar level of intensity. Outfielder Cody Bellinger won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 after previous disappointments. It seems as though the former MVP understands the stakes.
“When it comes to organizations like the Dodgers and Yankees, the expectations are to win — the history of the organizations have won, and that’s what you understand when you put on that uniform,” said Bellinger. “So it’s pretty similar. We had a few chances early on, and finishing off ’20 was huge.”
The Yankees currently hold the American League's top Wild Card spot and are just two games back of the Blue Jays in the AL East standings.
