A crowning ‘K’
Sabathia’s quest for 3,000 finally ended Tuesday night in Arizona.
PHOENIX — Of all the batters that could become C.C. Sabathia’s 3,000th strikeout casualty Tuesday night, there were two he hoped to avoid.
One was Zack Greinke, the Arizona Diamondbacks star pitcher, because pitchers don’t take as much pride in striking out one of their own. The other was John Ryan Murphy, the Diamondbacks catcher who once was Sabathia’s New York Yankees teammate.
“Me and him are really close,” Sabathia said after Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Diamondbacks. “I’ve been knowing him his whole career.”
Sabathia, 38, has sent many a batter back to the dugout muttering to himself in a potentially Hall of Fame worthy career that has spanned 19 seasons, three teams, a Cy Young Award, six All-Star selections, a World Series ring, 3,490 innings, 54,967 pitches, a transformation from hardthrower to crafty hurler, and a lot of knee pain.
Entering Tuesday, Sabathia needed three more punchouts to become the 17th pitcher — and only the third left-hander — to enter the 3,000-strikeout club. David Peralta and Christian Walker were the first two, in the second inning, before Sabathia surrendered a home run to Wilmer Flores and single to Nick Ahmed.
Up came Murphy, who was a Yankee from 2013 to 2015 before he was traded to the Minnesota Twins. During his three years in New York, he crouched behind the plate for 15 of Sabathia’s games, including the one on April 24, 2015, when Sabathia notched his 2,500th strikeout.
Sabathia was determined to reach 3,000 on Tuesday night, attacking hitters more than he had in his previous start. Against Murphy, he fired four cutters, the pitch that sparked his reinvention and allowed him reach this point. Murphy fouled off three. Sabathia then unfurled a low change-up and Murphy flailed at it.
The crowd at Chase Field,
filled with Yankees fans and aware of the moment, roared. Sabathia’s teammates and coaches met him on the field to one by one offer hugs, a gesture he called “incredible.”
“Since the end of last year, coming up short 14 strikeouts, this is the only thing I’ve been thinking about for the last six months,” he said.
After the hugs and cheers, Sabathia grabbed his bat and helmet: he was leading off the third inning. By then, his children, his wife and his mother had made their way down through the stands to the edge of the visitor’s dugout. On his way to the plate, Sabathia spotted his youngest son, Carter, 8, hanging on the edge of railing. He embraced all of his children, kissed his wife and grabbed his mother’s hands.
“It’s been a fun time the last couple weeks with these guys traveling around with me,” Sabathia said of the entourage of family and friends that had traveled with him during the Yankees’ road trip to Anaheim, California, where he failed to reach 3,000 strikeouts last week, then to San Francisco and on to Phoenix.
“This guy is missing high school baseball games to see this stuff,” Sabathia added of his eldest son, Carsten Charles III, 15. “It’s a special time.”
Before batting in the third inning, Sabathia chatted briefly with Murphy, asking him how he and his mother, who has battled Parkinson’s disease, were doing. It was a small example of Sabathia’s reputation for being a caring teammate. Murphy asked a question of his own that made Sabathia laugh.
“I asked him if he wanted me to sign the baseball for him,” Murphy said.
Sabathia lasted 5⅓ innings and allowed two runs and five hits, but the Yankees never regained the lead after Flores’ home run. He left after putting two runners on in the sixth, exiting the field to a standing ovation and with 3,002 strikeouts.
Over the past few weeks, Sabathia said he has reflected on his winding journey from his hometown, Vallejo, California, to his newest milestone. He said that he has thought about the times he didn’t think he would make it this far, particularly because of a balky right knee that has undergone at least three surgeries, including over the winter. A heart scare in December only reinforced his decision to retire after this season.
Sabathia also has thought back to his childhood, when he dreamed of being a power pitcher like Johnson, and how he cried on the mound when he gave up a hit. He remembered some of the nearly 880 batters he has fooled in his major league career — none more than Chris Davis, the Baltimore Orioles first baseman, and Carlos Pena, who is retired, with 26 strikeouts each.
Sabathia thought back to how nervous he was for his major league debut, with the Cleveland Indians, against the Orioles in 2001, and to his first strikeout, of Orioles left fielder Mike Kinkade.
“I remember thinking it was kinda whack because I faced Mike Kinkade a bunch of times in the minor leagues and wishing it was like Cal Ripken or somebody,” Sabathia said last week.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Kinkade, 45, now the baseball coach at Pullman High School in Washington state, said he couldn’t remember exactly how he struck out against Sabathia back in 2001. Perhaps it was a breaking ball, he said. But he does remember taking a firstpitch fastball over the plate.
Before playing in parts of six major league seasons with three teams, Kinkade and Sabathia were briefly teammates on the U.S. Olympic baseball team.