Sabathia, the anti-Unit
ByTwo things I love about the 2009 Yankees are that they have a real first baseman, and that they have a real ace pitcher. Since the Clemens/Wells/Pettitte troika left after the 2003 season, the team has struggled to find adequate replacements for top-end performance. They tried in 2004 with Javy Vazquez and Kevin Brown, and then tried again in 2005 with Randy Johnson and Carl Pavano. Finally, in 2009 they have CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.
CC is about as far away from the last supposed ace, Randy Johnson, as one can possibly get. CC is approachable and affable. Randy welcomed himself to the city by shoving a cameraman. Reporters love talking to CC, but couldn’t get near Randy. The list goes on and on. YES Network’s Jon Lane notes the differences.
When Randy Johnson was here, you were strongly advised to stand at least 10 feet from him and his locker. Reporters would jokingly offer a cash reward if someone were to tap him on his shoulder and ask, “Hey, how’s it going?” Sabathia would actually respond, telling you that it’s all good. He’s that smooth. He’s the anti-Big Unit. Game 1 of the American League Championship Series is the best example to date. When Sabathia worked the count to 2-2 to Napoli, 49,688 people chanted “CC! CC!” in unison. It was the first time we’ve heard that from Yankees fans, and the first time in a long time the Yankees had the true definition of an ace on the mound working deep into October.
I suppose the crowd might have chanted for Randy had the Yankees gone deep into the playoffs and he pitched well. But we all know how Randy fared once the calendar flipped to October. Just another way that CC is the anti-Unit.
45 Comments»
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The Mason Williams Watch
The Pos likes CC also after last night, it seems.
One of the only writers I truly look forward to reading, regardless of topic
They got Johnson 6 months too late. They really needed him in July of ’04.
If you get an entire stadium chanting your name in your first year with a New York team, you’re doing something right.
That hadnt happened during the year, right?
His name is awesome for it, too.
It’d happened during the year, but not like that.
I’m sure A.J. made this connection and is going to jizz in his pants if he gets the same treatment.
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Although the crowd was louder and more in sync in the 7th inning, skip to 0:52 for the 8th inning version. Mostly because that is the only version I can find until someone uploads a YT vid from the 7th inning.
Blegh, I really hated Johnson. That guy looked like he crawled from under a cactus, he was perfect with the Dbacks lol
http://lockportslugline.files....../gecko.jpg
“Two things I love about the 2009 Yankees are that they have a real first baseman”
It’s funny you said that I remember how many people wanted Manny over Tex.
Thank Mo Cashman made the right choice.
Yeah, really. It’s like they forget that Manny is 37, can’t play defense, and is no longer the hitter he was five years ago.
Believe me all that came up but all people could bring up were his stats forget the clown act. Which again came up the other night when pose forever after hitting a HR in a LOST. He can’t retire fast enough for me.
Who wanted Manny over Tex? I, for one, wanted Manny AND Tex…
Replay last winter my friend the list was a mile long including one of the big three of RAB.
Show me.
I heart CC and his beautiful, 87mph changeup on the outside corner to righties.
It’s too bad that Tim McCarver calls it a fastball, and Jim Duquette thinks it’s a slider.
Hahah, yeah CC throws a slider that fades away from righties. Good job professional analysts.
Gyro ball
Isnt that a screwball?
Im sure CC can throw it but doesnt because he doesn’t want to show off.
“Mark wasn’t on the bag long enough after the catch! ”
After this statement you expect McCarver to know the difference between a fast-ball and a change-up.
The man is lost and no GPS can help him find the game of baseball now.
In my experience the people on TV (announcers, play-by-play guys, talking heads, etc) call any pitch they can’t identify right away a slider. And it annoys me so much.
On a similar note, I call any pitch I can’t immediately identify as an eephus pitch. Even what others call “fastballs”. Hah! What do they know?
Wouldn’t that be a great addition to CC’s arsenal?
Then we can all have even more fun chanting:
C-Ceephus! C-Ceephus!
.
We could call him Big BroCeephus & everything
That’s badass. I like it!
CC’s been key to this season. Johnson was underrated in the regular season, but does it matter considering what happened in October? Anyone know who’s DH-ing tonight?(hopefully Matsui – 1 for 1 against Saunders with a HR.
That CC chant at the Stadium last night was AWESOME!!! I never heard it like that before. It just rang from the stadium. It was electric last night and I only saw ONE Halo fan when I was getting on the train after the game….so nice.
That chant was amazing, the whole stadium really rallied behind CC, and no one around me second guessed the 8th inning, the place was booming with “CC”
It was a beauty to watch CC dominate the Angels like he did yesterday.
I was there and the CC chant sure was awesome. The one thing we Yankee fans need to do is to get our chanting in sync. We need our own fireman Ed to coordinate chants, each section was doing something different.
Looks like the people who predicted the atmosphere at the new YS would never be as electric as at the old one may have to re-think things a bit.
How cool is it to have an 87 mph off-speed pitch!?
How cool is it to have an 87 mph
off-speedpitch!?This works fine for me.
You have failed.
I know.
On Diwali!
I love CC.
But I’d lay off Big Unit.
The Yanks’ front office knew what they were getting, personality-wise, with Randy Johnson. He’d long been known as surly.
He was a disappointment for sure, but didn’t he win 17 games, twice?
Sign a 40 year-old pitcher and you get what you get.
yeah but he had an ERA of 5.00 in his second year with us
I agree. And Johnson had a very good year in 2005 and led the Yankees to the playoffs. people forget how he owned Boston.
He also gets a bad rap for the playoffs in 2005. He pitched on a terrible weather day and was awful. I truly believe the rain through him off. Not an excuse but still true I bthink. By 2006 he was breaking down, but he wasn’t the reason the Yankees lost to the Tigers.
You can’t forget that CC brought us one of the best commercials of the year.
Sabathia 1 Johnson 0
It’s beating you know who big!
Johnson has 7 wins, a 3.5 ERA and one world series ring. His crime was coming to the Yankees while collecting Social Security. Let it go.
[...] After four long off days, the Yanks rode the broad shoulders of CC Sabathia to a convincing Game One win. Some second guessed the move to bring Sabathia back out for the 8th, but that’s exactly what the Yanks are paying him for and why he’s the anti-Unit. [...]
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