The New York Yankees will retire CC Sabathia’s number 52 and dedicate a plaque in his honor at Monument Park before their game against the Baltimore Orioles on September 26. Sabathia, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025, becomes the 24th player or manager from the Yankees to have his number retired and is the first since Paul O’Neill in August 2022.
Sabathia is now part of a group that includes other members of the Yankees’ most recent World Series-winning team with retired numbers: Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera.
Reflecting on his time with the team, Sabathia said: “I think we all felt the pressure of the new stadium and all these different signings; the clubhouse chemistry and all of that different stuff. We felt it, but that team was so good and we were so connected. That was one of our driving forces, to be honest.”
Sabathia’s number will be the 23rd retired by the franchise because number 8 had previously been retired for both Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra.
After joining New York ahead of the 2009 season with what was then a record seven-year, $161 million contract for a free-agent pitcher, Sabathia made an immediate impact. He finished his first year with a 19-8 record and a 3.37 ERA over 34 starts. During that postseason run, he went 4-1 as a starter and won American League Championship Series MVP honors after going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in six games against Los Angeles.
Beyond statistics, Sabathia played an important role off the field by fostering team unity through organizing events such as barbecues and NBA game outings.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman commented: “When you have a player of his stature displaying that type of selflessness, it tends to manifest itself inside every corner of the clubhouse. CC was a difference-maker for this organization in a multitude of ways.”
From 2010 to 2012, Sabathia continued to perform at an All-Star level before facing injuries including season-ending knee surgery in July 2014. As his career progressed into his late thirties, he adapted his pitching style by seeking advice from teammate Andy Pettitte.
Pettitte described him as follows: “The biggest separator for CC was his mentality. He was tenacious. He had that bulldog approach to the point where he had a lack of care for his own well-being at times, and he wanted to take the ball every chance he could. He was a true warrior on the mound, and that type of makeup is very rare.”
One notable incident highlighting Sabathia’s loyalty came during his final start in 2018 when he was ejected for hitting Tampa Bay’s Jesús Sucre after Yankees catcher Austin Romine had been thrown behind earlier in that game. Despite being six outs away from earning a $500,000 bonus due to innings pitched incentives—an amount later paid quietly by New York—Sabathia said: “For me, it was more just about taking care of my guys.”
Over eleven seasons with New York, Sabathia recorded a total record of 134 wins and 88 losses along with an ERA of 3.81 across more than three hundred appearances (306 starts). Within franchise history he ranks fourth in strikeouts (1,700), seventh in games started (306), tenth in wins (134), and eleventh in innings pitched.
Speaking about what matters most from his career achievements with New York teammates behind him on defense or competing alongside him on field or bench alike each day out there playing hard together regardless outcome results matter less compared how everyone treats one another daily conduct hoping right example set moving forward next generation athletes fans supporters following club traditions established long ago:
“The thing that means the most to me is just hearing my teammates talk about how much they loved playing behind me, how much I loved competing and how much they loved being a teammate of mine,” Sabathia said.
“The numbers are the numbers. You go out and do whatever you can, and the results are the results, but it’s about how you treat people. It’s about how you go about your business. Hopefully, I did that the right way.”
