Yankees adding another franchise great to Monument Park
· Yahoo Sports
TAMPA, Fla. — Hall of Fame pitcher CC Sabathia was the Yankees ace when they won last won the World Series in 2009 and their last 20-game winner the next season.
The left-hander also was a beloved teammate during his 11 seasons in pinstripes.
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This summer the Yankees great will become a franchise legend.
Inducted into Cooperstown last year as a first-ballot candidate, Sabathia will have his number 52 retired and get a plaque in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park before the Yankees-Orioles’ game on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Sabathia will become the 24th Yankees player or manager to have a retired number and first since Paul O’Neill’s No. 21 in 2022. He’ll also be the fifth player on the 2009 Yankees with a retired number, joining Derek Jeter (2), Jorge Posada (20), Mariano Rivera (42) and Andy Pettite (46).
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was happy to hear the announcement.
His first two seasons as Yankees manager, 2018-19, were the last two in Sabathia’s 19-year career. Boone and Sabathia also were teammates on the Cleveland Indians from 2005-06.
“When I think of him, I think of teammate,” Boone said. “He brought people together. He connected with a lot of different people from a lot of different walks of life while having the presence of being a superstar. He made you feel welcome, and then between the lines he was just a really great competitor.
“I loved playing with him because he was so intense. And at that time in Cleveland, he was still learning how to harness. Sometimes he’d get real emotional out there on the mound and it would get the best of him, and he learned how to really harness that later into his career.
“But just an awesome competitor and the best of the best in teammates.”
Sabathia currently is a Yankees special advisor and might be in Tampa before spring training ends to do some guest coaching even though he’s had a recent surgery.
“I’m hoping he gets down here at some point,” Boone said.
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