OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -CC Sabathia has yet to meet George Steinbrenner, but he believes he’s ready for the pressure cooker that he’ll encounter as the New York Yankees’ new ace.
Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the Yankees last month, leaving the smaller markets of Milwaukee and Cleveland to find himself right in the middle of baseball’s biggest spotlight. He’ll report to spring training next month, and then he’ll really get to find out what being a Yankee is all about.
“If you ask anybody in my family or anybody that knows me, I don’t think there’s any outside pressure that could be put on me that I don’t put on myself,” Sabathia said Saturday night before being honored with the Warren Spahn Award. “I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to go out there and perform and expect to win every game, expect to pitch well in every game.
“I think having the guys in New York – the A-Rods and the Jeters and these great players, and Tex – I think it will help me be a better player.”
rge with an eight-year, $180 million deal – on an enormous payroll that reads like an All-Star roster. The signings of Sabathia, Teixeira and A.J. Burnett this offseason despite a slumping economy prompted some owners, including Milwaukee’s Mark Attanasio, to complain this week that baseball might need to have a hard salary cap.
“All I’m going to say is I’m excited to be on a big-market team and to be able to get where we need to win and know that the organization’s going to do that every year, year in and year out,” Sabathia said. “That feels good.”
Sabathia won the Spahn Award for the second straight year as baseball’s top left-handed pitcher after leading the Brewers to the playoffs for the first time since 1982. After Cleveland sent him to Milwaukee in a midseason trade, Sabathia went 11-2 and threw seven of his league-best 10 complete games.
Before Saturday night’s ceremony, he said he’s looking forward to having Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera there to close out games for him, and he’s already talked to Chamberlain about it.
“To have that bullpen and have just the support of that team, that team is unbelievable,” Sabathia said. “To add me and A.J and put Tex in that lineup, I think it’s going to be an unbelievable team. Hopefully we have a special year.”
`he just congratulated me and told me he was happy for me to be a part of the family.”
How that family comes together is of great interest to Sabathia. He believes a relaxed Brewers clubhouse helped foster his success last season in Milwaukee. Meanwhile, the Yankees had a streak of 13 straight playoff appearances snapped.
“That’s what I’m looking for. That’s a thing that I’m big on is having great team chemistry, and hopefully we can get that in New York,” Sabathia said.
Sabathia said he’s already used to having a target on his back after being successful in Cleveland and then with the Brewers, and he’s prepared to feel the same way in New York. Even the prospect of facing Red Sox fans doesn’t faze him.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a little more harsh, but they’re tough anyway. Being in a Cleveland uniform, they were tough,” Sabathia said. “I’m looking forward to them being even tougher, me being in a Yankee uniform and hearing some rude things.”
Sabathia also spoke of his childhood days playing T-ball, when he wouldn’t have been eligible for the Spahn Award.
“I started out playing right-handed,” Sabathia said. “I was throwing right-handed, I was hitting right-handed and I was like the worst kid out there.”
e could play left-handed. The rest is history.
“I like to have fun when I’m playing. That’s one thing, I think, that makes me successful is that I do have fun and I take it as a game,” Sabathia said. “I’m still like a 12-year-old kid out there playing.”
Only five players have won the Spahn Award in its 10 years of existence. After Randy Johnson won it the first four years, other winners have included Andy Pettitte (2003), Johan Santana (2004 and 2006) and Dontrelle Willis (2005).
The trophy is a bronze statue of Spahn, the Oklahoma native who leads all left-handers with 363 career victories. He died in 2003.
“It is a great way to honor my dad’s memory, and we’re tickled to death to have CC back here again this year,” said Greg Spahn, Warren’s son. “I’ve challenged him to come back for a third one, and we hope we can see that happen.”
Add A Comment