CC Sabathia’s seen and done it all as far as baseball is concerned. After starting his career in 2001, he played the game till 2019 when he finally bowed out. While he played in the Major League Baseball (MLB), CC grew into one of the most significant players and one of the highest-paid ever.
This and many other things marked Sabathia’s career as a professional baseball player. It was also for these reasons that the star athlete got quite famous. Read about all the events that led to his retirement and also take a closer look at his personal life and family.
A Look at CC Sabathia’s Career Progression
Baseball seemed to be something that will always be a part of the life of Sabathia. Right from childhood, he loved the sport and played it when he attended Vallejo High School. While baseball was the thing for which he came to be known, he was also played basketball and football well. CC got scholarship offers from various colleges to play football including UCLA.
In 1998, CC Sabathia gave a shot at the MLB draft and got selected in the first round by the Cleveland Indians. Following his drafting, he kicked off his career in the minor league. He would go on in 2001 to get his start in the MLB where he would become the youngest player at the time.
He continued to play for the Indians until 2008 when he moved to Milwaukee Brewers. However, by the end of the year, he made another move to the New York Yankees following a $161 million contract. For the next five years, the deal was the most profitable contract in the history of the league until 2013 when the Seattle Mariners offered Félix Hernández’s a mouth-watering $175 million contract.
The next contract that CC Sabathia would sign, which would also be his last, was a one-year deal with the Yankees in 2018. Prior to this, he signed a one-year contract valued at $10 million in 2017. At the time, he indicated that once the Yankees won the World Series, he would retire in 2018 but they lost to the Red Sox and that held him back.
His Awards, Recognitions, and Earnings From Baseball
In his playing years, CC Sabathia recorded many achievements. The legendary player took home the “Lou Boudreau Award” in 2000 after he clinched the Indians Minor League Player of the Year. In 2007, Sabathia won the AL CY Young Award as well as the American League Championship Series (ALCS) MVP for his performance in the 2009 ALCS.
In 2009 which was his major year, the former Yankees man won the World Series. In that year and 2010, he was the MLB wins leader. Six times in his career, he made the all-star team.
One of the biggest honors he received came on January 27, 2012, when his high school renamed its baseball field after him and declared the day a “CC Sabathia Day”.
Apart from the fame and accolades that CC Sabathia got thanks to baseball, he has also gained so much in terms of fortune. At the time of his retirement, he had a net worth estimated at $60-80 million. His fortune was shot in leaps and bounds following his seven-year contract with the Yankees – with a salary of $25 million. The $161 million deal placed him as the ninth highest-paid player in the history of MLB as well as the highest-paid pitcher in the league.
Interesting Revelations About CC Sabathia’s Retirement
In his last couple of years as a player, CC started having some issues with his health including right knee inflammation and a blockage in one artery to his heart which led to a procedure in December 2018. By February 2019, he announced that the season was his last as a player.
Although he made some appearances in 2019, he also spent some time off the roster as a result of his heart issue, the problem with his knee, and a problem with his left shoulder. He pulled himself through until October 21, 2019, when he made the official announcement on Twitter about his retirement.
Who are CC Sabathia’s Wife, Kids, and Other Family Members?
Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. the legendary pitcher was born on July 21, 1980, is the son of Carsten Charles Sabathia Sr. and Margie Sabathia. While his mother worked as a phone operator at Travis Air Force Base, his father was a drug addict who was called Corky; he contracted the dreaded HIV and died of stomach cancer in 2002.
His mother raised him as a single parent before she later remarried. Nonetheless, the Vallejo-born star has no siblings.
On a personal level, CC Sabathia is a family man who is married to Amber Sabathia with whom he is blessed with four kids; two boys and two girls.
Amber and Carsten have been together since they were high school students at Vallejo High School in California. They started dating in their sophomore.
The duo has an interesting story on what led to their marriage. Reports have it that after CC Sabathia was robbed at gunpoint, he saw the need to start a family and so he proposed to his high lover of a long time. By June 9, 2003, the two became man and wife.
Amber has come to be recognized as a hardworking and supportive wife and mother. She is a graduate of San Francisco State University. She is also a businesswoman who owns a clothing line for kids; CCandy. She is known to have been right by her husband’s side as he battled alcoholism for three years.
The couple has a foundation called “Pitcch In”, which they started to assist inner-city kids to attain their educational and athletic goals. According to Amber, they were moved to start the foundation because they were once inner-city kids who benefited from the kindness of others.
In 2018, the coupled showed their dedication to their marriage by renewing their vows in an intimate event that hosted 250 guests. Amber was walked in by the couple’s oldest son, Carsten Charles Jr III who was born in 2003. The other kids of the couple are Jaden, Cyia, and Carter Sabathia. The family now resides in New Jersey.
