NEW YORK — CC Sabathia has a Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown, an AL Cy Young Award, a World Series ring, and 3,093 career strikeouts. Ask him which honor hits hardest, though, and he will not point you to Upstate New York.
He will point you to the Bronx.
The former New York Yankees ace says the upcoming retirement of his No. 52 at Yankee Stadium feels even bigger to him than his first-ballot induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025. It is a statement that carries real weight coming from one of the most decorated left-handed pitchers of his generation, and it speaks directly to what pinstripes meant to his identity as a player.
Sabathia, now 45, made the comment during a conversation with PEOPLE magazine at the MLB Opening Night event on March 25, where he served as a booth analyst for Netflix alongside Matt Vasgersian and Hunter Pence. The Yankees hosted the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco in the streamer’s first live MLB broadcast.
A Bronx milestone set for September 26
On Feb. 25, the New York Yankees officially announced that CC Sabathia’s No. 52 will be retired and a plaque dedicated in his honor at Monument Park, prior to the team’s 7:05 p.m. game against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 26.
Sabathia will become the 24th player or manager in franchise history to receive the distinction. He is the first since Paul O’Neill, whose No. 21 was retired on Aug. 21, 2022. No. 52 will also never be worn in pinstripes again.
The news drew an immediate, emotional response from Sabathia on social media. “From the first number that hung in my locker to 52 forever hanging in Monument Park — this HOF journey has come full circle,” he posted. “To have my number retired by the New York Yankees this year is one of the greatest honors of my life. The LegaCCy continues.”
By retiring No. 52, the Yankees complete the circle for the core of their 2009 World Series championship club. Sabathia becomes the fifth member of that title team to be honored in Monument Park, joining Derek Jeter (No. 2), Andy Pettitte (No. 46), Jorge Posada (No. 20), and Mariano Rivera (No. 42). That 2009 title remains the franchise’s most recent championship.
‘It’s so hard to get your number retired there’
That sentiment is precisely what Sabathia expressed when speaking with PEOPLE at Opening Night. For him, the Yankees honor carries a weight that even Cooperstown cannot match.
“I feel like New York is such a tough place to play,” he told PEOPLE. “It’s so hard to get your number retired there.”
He added: “You can put up Hall of Fame numbers on any team, but to be able to do that in New York and have my number retired, yeah, it’s gonna be a surreal feeling. I’m super excited about it and just super humbled.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman echoed that point in the team’s official announcement, stressing that Sabathia’s value to the franchise went well beyond the box score.
“When you have a player of his stature displaying that type of selflessness, it tends to manifest itself inside every corner of the clubhouse,” Cashman said. “CC was a difference-maker for this organization in a multitude of ways.”
Eleven seasons, one championship, a franchise imprint
Sabathia signed a then-record seven-year, $161 million deal with the Yankees in December 2008. He delivered immediately, going 19-8 with a 3.37 ERA in 34 starts in his debut season, then dominated October. In five postseason starts that fall, the Yankees went 4-1. In the ALCS against the Los Angeles Angels, he went 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA across 16 innings, earning ALCS MVP honors.
Over 11 seasons in New York, Sabathia went 134-88 with a 3.81 ERA in 307 appearances. He ranks fourth in Yankees history with 1,700 strikeouts, sits 10th on the all-time wins list, and is seventh in starts (306) and 11th in innings pitched (1,918).
His full MLB career, spanning three teams and 19 seasons, produced a 251-161 record with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts. That places him third all-time among left-handed pitchers, behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected him to Cooperstown in 2025, his first year of eligibility.
Sabathia chose to wear a Yankees logo on his Hall of Fame plaque hat, a detail that carried deliberate meaning. “The Yankees was the place that wanted me,” he said after the Cooperstown vote. “I’ve been here now 16 years. I love the other organizations, but this is home. I found a home in the Bronx and I don’t think I’ll ever leave this city.”
Life after baseball still revolves around the diamond
Sabathia and wife Amber run the PitCCh In Foundation, established in 2008, which supports inner-city youth through sports and education programs in the New York area. The couple have four children: sons Carsten and Carter, and daughters Jaeden and Cyia.
With two children in college and two in high school, family schedules remain in constant orbit around the sport.
“Most things that we do revolve around baseball because we’re a baseball family, but it’s just always nice to get us six together because it very, very rarely happens,” Sabathia told PEOPLE. “It’s always fun when we’re all together.”
The Yankees have encouraged fans to arrive early on Sept. 26. The pre-game ceremony at Monument Park, set before first pitch against Baltimore, is expected to draw many of Sabathia’s former teammates from the 2009 championship squad.
For a franchise that has retired more uniform numbers than any other in baseball, that remains the ultimate standard of belonging. Sabathia, it turns out, knew that all along.
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