CC Sabathia on what it means for the Yankees to retire his number 52

CC Sabathia was already immortalized in baseball history after being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025, but he will join an even more exclusive club in the Bronx later this year.

The New York Yankees will retire Sabathia’s No. 52, adding him as the 23rd recipient of one of the greatest honors in sports. Sabathia’s name and number will enter baseball’s hallowed ground that is Monument Park, which sits behind the center field wall at Yankee Stadium — a place Sabathia had always admired but never thought he would enter even today, let alone in 2009 when he joined the team as a free agent.

After 11 seasons with the franchise, and a World Series ring among other accolades, he got the call from owner Hal Steinbrenner.

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“I just keep thinking what an absolute honor it is and how excited I am actually to have my number retired by probably one of the best sports franchises in the world,” Sabathia told Pakinomist Digital two days after getting the call that his number would be retired. “When you first show up in New York, you see all the numbers. You understand Monument Park, but you never think you can get there, right? As a free agent, you come in like, ‘I can never do enough to match Whitey Ford, or to match what Ron Guidry meant to this organization.’

“To actually be able to make it happen after 11 years and see that my number is going to be there and be retired, it’s more of a shock than going into the Hall of Fame, to be honest. I wouldn’t say I feel more honored. Obviously, going into the Hall of Fame is the ultimate thing. But to be in the Yankees Hall of Fame, who’s done some good things in the baseball group, are really good things, who’ve done some good things in baseball group. history To be a part of that group is really special.”

A three-time All-Star and an American League Cy Young Award winner, Sabathia was coming off a career-best 2.70 ERA with the then-Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers when he entered free agency before the 2009 season.

A top target for many teams across the MLB, Sabathia knew he could make an impact with whichever team he chose. But even Sabathia, who was nailed on the mound every fifth day throughout his career up to that point, had at least some doubt creeping into his mind when the New York Yankees called about bringing his talents to the Bronx.

“Even sitting back and thinking about how Cash [GM Brian Cashman] convinced me to come here,” Sabathia said. “I never even gave myself space to think about ending up in Monument Park or how it would end. You see so many free agents come here, whether it’s the media, the pressure of pitching up in the Bronx with the pinstripes, and that’s all you hear about. You never about the guy who comes here and ends up in Monument Park.”

Sabathia eventually agreed to a seven-year deal with the Yankees worth $161 million, and yes, Cashman put in an opt-out after three seasons because not even Sabathia was immune to the pressures of pitching in the Bronx.

But he accomplished what everyone who joins the Yankees hopes to do in pinstripes: Win a World Series. He did so in his inaugural season, leading a rotation that also featured free-agent newcomer AJ Burnett and another Monument Park member, Andy Pettitte. And after those three seasons, it was an easy decision for Sabathia to sign up, adding another season on top of the remaining years he had left.

CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees celebrates in the dugout with a copy of the New York Post after their 7-3 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Six of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium on November 4, 2009 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Sabathia pitched to a 3.81 ERA over 307 Yankees starts (1,918 innings) with 1,700 strikeouts, landing him over the rare 3,000-strikeout mark. Only three lefties in MLB history had accomplished the feat before Sabathia.

So what began with not necessarily knowing what would happen in making the Bronx home quickly turned into embracing the vibrant, raucous city and fan base. Even today, Sabathia still gets called out when he goes near E. 161st Street or attend a game at Yankee Stadium, which he said is about 50 a year.

“I loved every moment of my time in the Bronx and the energy that everyone brought,” he said. “The days I started, I’d drive through the Bronx. I’d drive down Jermone Ave., windows down, blast my music just to get a feel for the people and the energy and get ready for what I’m about to do.

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“It was hard to get here because it’s so much, but I loved every bit of being a part of the Yankee Universe with the fans and the organization. I’m excited to be able to address them and get in front of them and talk about the responsibility they have for every player that puts on the pinstripes.”

Even as a 20-year-old who thrived in Cleveland’s minor league system knew what the pinstripes meant to any baseball player when the Indians recalled him from the 2000 Sydney Olympics to potentially make his big league debut in the Bronx. Sabathia’s first trip to Monument Park has quite a story.

“I had made the Olympic team. I was going to pitch in the Olympics,” he began. “[I] went to the opening ceremony, I got a call that night. The Indians needed me to come back to New York because they had a bunch of doubleheaders in Boston and New York and they might need me to pitch. So I fly from Australia to San Diego, spend the night over there. So fly to Winter Haven, [Florida] where our spring training was, and then they flew me up to New York.

CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees salutes the crowd as he is honored prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on September 22, 2019 in New York City. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

“The next day I wake up and I’m supposed to throw a bullpen so I get to the stadium and I actually went the wrong way. I went all the way down the tunnel at 1:00 p.m. [old] stadium and I ended up in the slaughterhouse. There were some guys in there, I think Moose [Mike Mussina] was down there doing his job and he points me back the other way all the way through the other side of the stadium where you had to go through Monument Park because Monument Park was in the bullpen. So I walk through and I see all these different statues and all this different stuff and my pitching coach is standing there and is mad at me because now I’m 15 minutes late.”

Unfortunately, Sabathia didn’t make his MLB debut until the 2001 season, when pitching coach Dick Pole saw him throw just three pitches and decided, “Hell, he’s not ready,” as the 45-year-old laughed just thinking about the moment.

“I throw 10 more pitches and I walk through Monument Park to take it all in,” he added. “When I went back in, there was a ticket on my seat to go home.”

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It’s fun and gratifying for Sabathia to look back now and see all that he went through. Of course he did last year when he entered the hall of fame in Cooperstown. But he never expected to be remembered forever by one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world.

Then again, he went out on the mound and gave it his all when it was his turn to take the field, just like all the other players whose numbers live in Monument Park. In fact, Sabathia literally threw until his arm fell off — he suffered a left shoulder dislocation during Game 4 of the 2019 ALCS. And Sabathia is currently rehabbing a knee replacement, which he says he’s also put off since retirement.

But he knew that was what it would take to pitch for the Yankees in the Bronx, where fans hold everyone accountable, regardless of their status in the league. Whether you’re a Cy Young winner like Sabathia back then, or a three-time MVP like Aaron Judge today, fans don’t discriminate when it comes to mocking poor performances.

It’s something Sabathia loves most about the Bronx, and he can’t wait to tell them on Sept. 26 when his number enters Monument Park and sits on that wall behind the left field bleachers.

CC Sabathia poses for a photo with his plaque during the Baseball Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Clark Sports Center on July 27, 2025 in Cooperstown, New York. (New York Yankees/Getty Images)

“I think I’ll always think about the accountability that the fans hold you to. It’s something I’m grateful for. You never really get a chance to let go when you’re in New York and like Jeet [Derek Jeter] always used to say, ‘Stay humble.’ It keeps you humble no matter how good you are,” he said.

When Sabathia sees his new plaque, which will spend an eternity in Monument Park, he will read exactly what he meant to the Yankees franchise, and more importantly, why he belongs with the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and many more. As someone who was willing to pitch to a division rival and get ejected in retaliation for an earlier plunk, throwing away $500,000 in an incentive bonus in the process, Sabathia knows what he would have written for Yankees fans now and forever to see when they walk through Monument Park.

“He left everything out there. He was the ultimate teammate and literally left everything out there every time he took the ball. Every five days,” Sabathia said.

“How much I competed, how much I wanted to win. I literally left everything out there. My shoulder, my knee. But I’ve always strived to be the best teammate I could be, and hopefully they can include that on the record.”

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