CC Sabathia gets his surreal Yankees forever moment with number retirement ceremony

CC Sabathia could laugh about it Friday because of everything that followed the decision. The World Series title in 2009.The three All-Star Game appearances.

His 132 victories, 3.81 ERA and 1,700 strikeouts in pinstripes in 11 seasons.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.But before he decided to join the Yankees, Sabathia was intimidated by New York City.

He saw other players come here and get swallowed up by the pressure of the big city. Then, he let general manager Brian Cashman into his home. “We had the initial meeting at the winter meetings in Las Vegas.I wasn’t convinced, I was still looking for other options,” Sabathia, a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2025, who received 86.8 percent of the vote, recalled.

“I flew home that night.‘Cash’ came to my house that night.

He sat down on the couch with me and Amber.He was like, ‘I’ve waited three years.

There were other guys I could’ve signed but I didn’t sign because I was targeting you to come here.I know you can change my clubhouse, I know you can change the structure of the way this team is.’ … That conversation was the reason I ended up signing.” Clearly, it was a very good decision.

Sabathia helped lead the Yankees to their 27th and most recent title, and became a favorite of teammates and fans alike. On Friday, his No.52 jersey was retired.

When he arrived in The Bronx in 2009, the big left-hander couldn’t have imagined joining all the great Yankees in Monument Park.He had been part of these ceremonies before, but this was obviously different. “That ceremony was incredible, surreal,” Sabathia, 46, said.

“I was saying out there I have so many famous teammates whether it’s Mo [Mariano Rivera], Derek [Jeter], Andy [Pettitte].So I’ve been at the ceremony a bunch of times but to have that ceremony be for me is special and to have my family out there was cool....