Matthew Youkilis photos
Isiah Franklin, with Coach Alexander Baez and two Hartford baseball teammates: "Patience" is the word.
CC Sabathia: “I’ve been through so much on and off the field."
When CC Sabathia was nine years old, Oakland Athletics pitcher Dave Stewart visited Sabathia’s Boys & Girls Club — and that’s when the future Cy Young Award-winning left-hander knew what he wanted to do with his life.
It wasn’t just playing baseball.
“I wanted to have his impact off the field and how it made me feel when he walked into my Boys and Girls Club,” Sabathia, who was on the New York Yankees for 11 years, said at an event at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) Friday night. “I wanted to be that for kids. So he kind of changed my perspective on being an athlete and what that was gonna look like for me.”
Sabathia lived up to this expectation during “An Evening with New York Yankees legend CC Sabathia” at SCSU’s John Lyman Center for Performing Arts at 501 Crescent St.
At Friday's event at SCSU.
In front of an audience of hundreds of students and baseball fans, the Oakland, California-raised ace sat alongside moderator Rob Parker to discuss Sabathia’s career and the personal challenges he has faced, including struggles with alcoholism. They also promoted the pitcher’s new book, Till the End, and reflected on some of Sabathia’s most memorable moments in the major leagues — as well as on why he thinks it’s important for city-raised kids like himself to keep playing baseball.
“I’ve been through so much on and off the field that I feel like I could help somebody — whether it’s dealing with adversity on the field…[or] off the field,” Sabathia said. “So getting a chance to talk with these kids was great.”
Over the course of the hour-long talk, he spoke about his growth as a young athlete, his time with the Yankees, and what he has been doing since retirement. He mentioned the difficult but quick journey he had through the minor leagues leading up to his debut with Cleveland at 20 years old. He described his first day in New York, joining legends like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera in the clubhouse. And he recounted the joy he felt when he met Dave Stewart at 9 years old and knew the kind of player and person he wanted to be.
Sabathia on stage with Rob Parker.
Just before the larger event, Sabathia spoke with local baseball players at a small gathering backstage, answering direct questions about his career and taking photos with the young players.
Isiah Franklin, a high school and travel baseball player from Hartford, attended the smaller session before Friday’s main event. He asked Sabathia what advice the pitcher would give to his younger self.
“Patience” was Sabathia’s answer. “That really stuck with me,” Franklin said. “I’m usually very active, very finicky when I’m at bat. So the patience [idea] really helped me a lot.”
Franklin’s coach and several other players from his team attended, too. His coach, Alexander Baez, said, “It’s good for the young guys to see how a guy made it to the major leagues. The struggles that he had, the sacrifices he made. Hopefully it’ll give them a boost in their lives to hopefully want to become successful like him.”
In 2022, Sabathia became a special assistant to the Commissioner of the MLB, focusing on player relations; diversity, equity and inclusion; social responsibility; and youth participation. At events like Friday’s at SCSU, Sabathia said his goal is to use his story to inspire younger players and relay a message of overcoming adversity.
Dejon Knight, face to face with a baseball great.
Angel Ramos, who founded City Angels Baseball Academy in New Haven and is the head baseball coach at Wilbur Cross High School, also attended the event with players from his teams. He founded the academy in 2019 because he believed New Haven needed more opportunities to develop young baseball players.
“A lot of the guys see CC was an inner city kid too, and we got a lot of inner city kids. And they see that they look like him and say, ‘You know what? I can be like him too,’” Ramos said.
Along with the players from across New Haven and Connecticut, many Yankees fans and baseball aficionados trekked across the state to see Sabathia. Some SCSU students and baseball players also attended.
Dejon Knight, who works as manager for the basketball team at SCSU, summed up the experience for a lot of young people at the event. “You grew up seeing these people on TV, these huge figures, who you never know you’re gonna come across,” Knight said. “Until one day…he’s right there right in front of you.”
Today's youth do not have the patience or attention span for baseball. They don't like to wait so games like baseball are too slow. Even the fans want it speeded up. Too bad because baseball is a true game of summer. Nothing like an afternoon at the park, enjoying the game as it unfolds.