New York Yankees: CC Sabathia literally gave it everything he had

CC Sabathia may not have seen his career end the way he wanted, but no one can say he did not give the New York Yankees everything he had left.

In a perfect world, CC Sabathia would have seen his career end a different way. He would have recorded the final outs for the New York Yankees as they won their 28th World Series crown, carried off the field like a conquering hero. Sabathia, in that dream scenario, would have retired a champion, and on his own terms.

The problem is, dreams do not come true. Such was the case for Sabathia, who was removed from Game Four after his shoulder let go. He threw 20 pitches, but his final three offerings were only in the mid 80s. Sabathia later admitted that his shoulder gave out when Aledyms Diaz popped up, but he was hoping to get through the rest of the inning.

"“I told (my wife) Amber last night that this was kind of the best way for it to end for me,” he said. “Because the way I’ve been feeling — loving the bullpen and jogging out, feeling pretty good — I feel like about July of next year I would’ve been like, ‘I can pitch.’ The way I feel now I obviously can’t. It’s kind of fitting. I threw until I couldn’t anymore.”"

It would have been easy for Sabathia to coast off into the sunset. He had already been dealing with injury woes this season, with his troublesome knee acting up before the shoulder issues kept him off the ALDS roster. However, he worked his way back, determined to give the Yankees anything he had left.

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The fact that Sabathia even made it this far has to be considered a surprise. His time as an effective pitcher appeared to be over after an injury plagued 2014 campaign. Instead of living in the past and the pitcher he once was, Sabathia adapted, becoming a crafty lefty capable of shoring up the back of the Yankees rotation.

Even before his reinvention, Sabathia had established himself as a warrior on the diamond. Who can forget his run with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008, when he was literally pitching every third day as they desperately attempted to reach the postseason? For those efforts, he was sixth in the NL MVP vote, despite being acquired on July 7 that year.

We should not be surprised that Sabathia literally left it all out on the mound. This is why he had worked so hard to return this season in the first place – to take the mound one last time in October. He knew that any of those pitches would be his last, but his shoulder ultimately made the final decision.

Even then, it felt as though Sabathia would try to gut it out one more time. As he was being gently walked from the mound, there was the sense that had trainer Steve Donahue not had his arm around Sabathia, the veteran lefty would have tried returning to the mound, refusing to let an injury put an end to his career. But in the end, Sabathia had nothing left to give.

CC Sabathia gave the New York Yankees everything he had. He pitched until he literally could not pitch any longer, with his incredible left arm finally giving out.