NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 18: CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees celebrates after defeating the Houston Astros in game five of the American League Championship Series with a score of 4 to 1 at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 2019 in New York City.
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Former New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia says Brett Gardner is the funniest teammate he has ever had.

Now-retired New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was a guest on Monday’s Good Morning Football show, and he showed some love to his teammate, Brett Gardner. He said Gardner was the funniest teammate he ever had.

Sabathia recounted a story in which Gardner removed the battery from a teammate’s car key and replaced it with a picture of himself. The teammate did not discover this until he got to the car dealer.

Gardner and Sabathia’s friendship is an old one, as the two were the Yankees’ longest-tenured players for quite some time. For that reason, it is no surprise that Sabathia has so many good things to say about Gardner and that they have such a great relationship.

Gardner was selected by the Bombers in the third round of the 2005 MLB draft and has been with the team ever since. The 36-year-old outfielder was just brought back on a one-year, $12.5 million deal with a club option for a second season, 2021, at $10 million.

Sabathia was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1998 and made his MLB debut in 2001. He played with the Indians for seven years before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, with whom he spent less than a season. In 2009, Sabathia signed with the Yankees and the rest is history.

In 10 years, Sabathia won a World Series and solidified his legacy as one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Gardner and Sabathia played together for the entirety of Sabathia’s tenure as a Yankee, and the two of them embodied everything an organization, especially the Yankees, would want their players to be. Dedicated, hard-working, loyal to a fault, and always working to perfect their craft are the perfect way to describe them.

They went from being just impactful players to cherished and well-respected veterans both on and off the field. Gardner will undoubtedly seek to implement his values as well as Sabathia’s in the youngsters.

Leen has written about the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and international soccer. She is currently the primary NHL writer for ESNY. Leen's work has been featured on Bleacher Report and she was formerly a contributor for FanSided's New York Mets blog, Rising Apple. She is a co-host of the Yankees-Mets Express podcast.