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MLB Heat: CC Sabathia’s HOF Legacy Is Backed By The Stats

Posted byBy J.R. Gamble | Published on: | Updated on March 15, 2024 CommentsComments (0)

Sabathia’s 251st career win ties him with Bob Gibson for the most by an African-American pitcher in MLB history.


Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia pitched six innings of two-run ball for his 251st career victory on Monday night.

The win ties Sabathia —  an OG with 19 years in The Show — for 47th on the all-time list with “Bullet” Bob Gibson, a two-time Cy Young award winner and the 1968 National League MVP. Canadian Ferguson Jenkins is the all-time wins leader among Black pitchers with 284 wins. 

CC’s next victory will elevate him to a cultural space unto himself.

As one of baseball’s Black Aces enjoys his retirement tour and continues to move up baseball’s all-time wins list, his case for induction into Cooperstown after two decades of excellence continues to grow. 

On April 30th in Arizona, in the second inning, Sabathia struck out the side, logging his 2,998th, 2,999th and 3,000th career strikeouts. In so doing, the veteran left-handed starter became the 17th pitcher in all of baseball history to reach the 3,000 strikeout mark. Sabathia is only the third lefty to reach that plateau, the others being Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton.

Now with both 250 wins and 3,000 strikeouts, Sabathia becomes just the 14th hurler in MLB history to reach both numbers, joining Roger Clemens and 12 already enshrined Hall of Fame starters.

Next up on the list for Sabathia is Albert Spalding, who had 252 wins. 

The Yankees clubhouse leader and last soul connection to their 2009 championship squad should surpass lethal lefty Carl Hubbell, Red Faber and longtime Yankees lefty Andy Pettitte, a former teammate of Sabathia’s, in wins this season. 

Sabathia threw 104 pitches, his most in a game since 2016, and struck out a season-high nine in his last start, 

To put the 38-year-old left-hander’s legacy in perspective, in addition to being a World Series-winning ace, successfully battling alcohol addiction and being a strong advocate for affordable youth baseball in New York city, CC’s longevity is legendary.  

Sabathia, who is retiring at the end of the season, struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the second inning. He also struck out Guerrero’s Hall of Fame father 10 times throughout his career. The last K came in 2011. 

 

Bronx Bombers Of The Century 

The Yankees are loaded. Not only did their band of comeback players, second-tier dudes, and unheralded minor leaguers perform like a murderer’s row when half of the starting lineup was injured. But they started a homer streak for the ages. 

With guys such as Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge back and joining in on the power surge, Tuesday night the Yankees set an MLB record by hitting a home run in 28 straight games.

On Wednesday they made it 29.

 

With the addition of American League home run leader Edwin Encarnacion, the streak doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. The Yankees will probably shatter the team home run record it set last season of 267, which was also an MLB record. 

Machado and Cole Return To The Essence

Two former All-Stars returned to the team’s that laid the foundation for their MLB excellence on Monday night. 

Manny Machado left Baltimore in the offseason after spending the first seven years of his career with the Orioles as one of the premier third basemen in league history. Machado, who signed a $300 million deal with San Diego in the offseason, blasted his 191st home run on Monday night against his former squad. 

After five seasons in Pittsburgh, the Astros reached a deal to acquire hard-throwing right-hander Gerrit Cole in January of 2018. 

Cole, 27, was the No. 1 pick in the 2011 Draft out of UCLA.  He’s 59-42 with a 3.50 ERA in 127 big league starts.

He entered last night’s game against his former team as the league first in strikeouts and went seven innings, giving up just one run in a 5-1 Astros win. 

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