New York Yankees catcher Austin Romine was strapping on his shin pads when he heard a booming voice and immediately looked up.
It was CC Sabathia. He was offended.
“First guy,” Sabathia said.
It was September 27, 2018. Sabathia sought revenge on the Tampa Bay Rays after reliever Andrew Kittredge aimed a 93 mph fastball at Romine's head, narrowly missing him in the highest of the sixth inning, while the New York Yankees were tied at 7 the lead was -0, at Tropicana Field.
He decided he would hit catcher Jesús Sucre to offer him the lead in the underside of the inning and send a message. He would do it even when it meant getting cut and ending the season just wanting a contract incentive that may have paid him $500,000.
Romine was aware of the approaching payday and briefly tried to dissuade Sabathia. He knew Sabathia needed to throw seven innings for the bonus early in the sport and the left-hander was two innings behind.
“No,” Sabathia said and walked away. “First guy.”
On Tuesday, the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce whether Sabathia has been named to the list on the primary ballot.
When voters on the Baseball Writers' Association of America considered Sabathia's resume, they weighed all of the stats and accolades. They considered him the ace when the Yankees won the World Series in 2009, a feat the team hasn't achieved since. They mentioned his 2007 American League Cy Young Award with the Cleveland Guardians, in addition to his 3,093 strikeouts, 251 wins and 6 All-Star appearances in his 19-year profession. And some were probably still impressed that Sabathia saved the Milwaukee Brewers' 2008 playoff run by making each of his final three starts of the season on three days' rest.
What voters couldn't quantify, nonetheless, was the outsized influence he had on his teammates and the respect he earned over the course of the sport.
This has never been more evident on a public stage than during Sabathia's last start in 2018.
After Sabathia forfeited the half-million dollar bonus by slapping Sucre on the ass and getting ejected, he pointed at Kittredge within the Rays' dugout and tv cameras could read his lips:
At the time, it appeared like a shocking move. He had thrown just 54 pitches in five innings, and he was on the precise track, putting his signature slider on each side of the plate and tying up right-handers with the cut fastball that brought him back to life late in his profession. He wouldn't get one other probability to earn the inducement within the regular season.
But it wasn't a surprise to Romine and manager Aaron Boone.
Throughout the sport, the Rays had chirped Sabathia from their dugout for throwing inside after which hitting Jake Bauers on the hand.
As Romine fell to the bottom to avoid Kittredge's fastball, he had a straightforward query for catcher Sucre: “Why?”
For Sabathia, there was absolute confidence about what needed to occur next. He had to guard his teammates, though home plate umpire Vic Carapazza had already issued warnings to each dugouts.
While Romine dusted himself off, Sabathia left the Yankees' dugout to yell on the Rays. Boone held him back and walked him to the dugout.
Boone asked Sabathia to not take revenge. He knew it was a futile request.
“I remember thinking, 'Yeah, let's not let him throw to anyone here,' and knowing in my head that I don't think he's listening to me at this point,” Boone said.
The fastball that Sabathia hit Sucre with was 92.5 mph — the fastest pitch he threw all night.
“It speaks volumes about what kind of old-school baseball player he was and what kind of baseball player he thought he would be,” Romine said. “No one throws at your boys, especially not at the head. I think that really triggered something in him. I'll never say it was about me. It was about his team. It was about his catcher and his team being attacked, and he was the guy protecting his team throughout his career. They throw to the nine-hole backup catcher, and that's one thing. You’re not going to throw to the three-hole, four-hole hitters.”
“This is the guy you want to go to fight with,” Aaron Judge said on the time.
“I guess I don’t really make decisions based on money,” Sabathia said after the 12-1 win. “I just felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Romine played parts of eight seasons as Sabathia's teammate. He said Sabathia was the de facto captain within the Yankees' clubhouse and the respect Sabathia received from his opponents was unlike anything he had ever seen.
“He’s still the only one that typically has leadoff hitters coming over and tipping their hat to the opposing manager,” Romine said. “Well, they would do that, and CC would sit on that water cooler and the leadoff hitter would tip his hat to CC. It was fun to watch.”
“He's getting ready to be in the Hall of Fame because of his excellence on the mound and the numbers he's put up and the things he's done,” Boone said. “But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone he's ever played with who probably doesn't have him at the top of their all-time teammates list. He's such a connector. Easy to understand. He's easy to talk to. Made you feel important. Lived for the team over his own personal things.
“The big ones are like that, and Judgey is a little bit like that too. I feel like there's an underlying confidence in them that they know they're going to achieve their goal and do it well. So they don't really care. It's about the win and the team, and they live it. CC lived it over and over again.”
At the tip of the season, the Yankees gave Sabathia the bonus, although the exclusion meant he got here up just short.
“The grand plan,” Boone said, “and the career he had, the $500,000 – he didn't care about that.” Just didn't care. His first goal was to be a teammate – a fantastic teammate. The competitive a part of things.
“In the end, it only added to the legend of CC.”
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