With just two games left in the regular season, the New York Yankees are still showing fight, with CC Sabathia earning a 5-game suspension.
Let’s be honest here; what happened on Thursday night in Tampa Bay was nothing short of epic.
To recap, the New York Yankees were finally ready to take a series at Tropicana Field with CC Sabathia on the mound. Sabathia was two innings short of earning a $500K incentive on his season.
That is, until the Rays decided to go after Austin Romine at the plate. Andrew Kittredge threw up and in to Romine, which Sabathia took personally, causing him to intentionally plunk Jesus Sucre and earn himself and ejection.
On Saturday afternoon, Major League Baseball released the consequences of that incident, giving Kittredge a three-game suspension and Sabathia a five-game suspension. While Sabathia will likely appeal the suspension, if upheld, both players will serve these punishments during the 2019 season.
Yankees’ CC Sabathia (5 games), Rays’ Andrew Kittredge (3 games) suspended and fined for actions in Thursday’s game. Both suspensions, if upheld, are to be served in 2019. Sabathia has elected to appeal. https://t.co/3FiiYFQsWb
— MLB (@MLB) September 29, 2018
Sabathia has been in the center of several brawls during his time with the Yankees but this one just served as proof of what an exceptional teammate he is. While half a million dollars is chump change to a guy like Sabathia, he still threw that aside to make sure to stand up for his own teammate.
So in that case, he gets a suspension. While I don’t condone throwing at other players, Sabathia did it with some thought. He drilled Sucre in the thigh instead of throwing up and in, like the Rays did with Romine.
After that, he didn’t show much respect, hollering towards the Rays dugout with NSFW language. But the thought was there.
Listen, we’ve seen him in brawls. He can literally shove a pile of professional ballplayers aside like rag dolls. You do not want to mess with CC. And if you mess with one of his teammates, he’ll go off.
If the Yankees don’t need them in their rotation next year, fine. However, they should be bringing him back simply as their Retaliation Coach with a specialty in Brawl Dynamics. I’ll start the GoFundMe page now.
