CC Sabathia did not have to ponder long about what team’s cap he wants on his plaque in Cooperstown. In fact, he made the decision weeks ago. Sabathia, who began his career with the Indians in 2001 when he was 20 years old, was traded to the Brewers in July 2008 and then won 134 games with the Yankees from 2009-2019,  has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, the Hall announced Jan. 21. He will be inducted along with Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner on July 27. “It wasn’t really a tough decision,” Sabathia said on Zoom after the announcement was made. “My wife (Amber) and I talked about it. The Yankees is the place that wanted me. I signed here as a free agent. I’ve been here now 16 years. “I love the other organizations I played in. I don’t think I’d be sitting here today if I wasn’t drafted by the Cleveland organization. I’m very thankful to Milwaukee for trading for me and having the run I had there. But this is home. I found a home in the Bronx. I don’t think I’ll ever leave this city.” It isn’t that the Indians didn’t want to keep Sabathia. They couldn’t afford him. He was 106-71 with the Tribe in 7.5 seasons. His 106 victories are 12th most all-time in franchise history. Sabathia won the Cy Young Award with the Indians in 2007 when he finished 19-7. They traded him midway through 2008 because he was in the final year of his contract. He signed a seven-year, $160 million deal with the Yankees in 2009. Even now, with 16 years of inflation factored in, a seven-year contract that averages $22.8 million a year is too much for the Guardians to take on. The seven-year contract Jose Ramirez signed in 2022 averages $20,142,897 a year. CC Sabathia said he will go into the Hall of Fame as Yankee when he is honored in July, but he credited #Indians pitching coach Carl Willis for making him a pitcher when CC was with the Tribe. pic.twitter.com/EOiz3EjT2W — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) January 22, 2025 But Sabathia wasn’t joking when he said he might not have been answering questions about the Hall of Fame on Jan. 21 had the Indians not drafted him, because his time with the Indians afforded him the opportunity to be taught by pitching coach Carl Willis. Willis, now in his second stint in Cleveland, was coaching in the Indians’ minor-league system when Sabathia was selected with the 20th pick of the 1998 draft. C.C. Sabathia winds up to deliver to the Rangers in the second inning in Arlington, Texas on July 19, 2007. (Tony Gutierrez – The Associated Press) “Carl was responsible for everything for me being a professional pitcher,” Sabathia said on the Zoom call. “My first impressions were, ‘I love this guy.’ I remember him picking me up at the airport in Raleigh and driving me over to Burlington (Appalachian League). “Our very first bullpen, we were in Bloomfield, Virginia. Carl goes, “All right, let me see your four-seamer, two-seamer, curve ball — whatever you’ve got.’ I said, ‘What do you mean, four-seamer?’ He literally taught me how to throw a four-seam fastball. He broke down my delivery. In 2006, he showed me a grip for a cutter and I ended up with this 83 mile an hour slider out of that bullpen. From the second half of 2006 to the end of my career, that was one of my plus-plus pitches.” Sabathia was inducted into the Indians/Guardians Hall of Fame on Aug. 3, 2024. At the time he said he hoped he would get a call for a higher honor — meaning Cooperstown — but he didn’t dwell on it. Being honored by the Guardians will continue to hold a place in his heart. “It’s surreal, humbling,” Sabathia said at the time. “It’s an honor to be able to be going to the Hall of Fame here, a place where I got drafted. I thought I’d spent my whole career here. It didn’t work out like that, but to be able to go into the Hall of Fame, here especially, it means a lot to me.” Sabathia earned 86.6% of the vote from the Baseball Writers of America tasked with selecting National Baseball Hall of Fame members. A player must be named on at least 75% of the ballots to earn induction into Cooperstown.