C.C. Sabathia goes into Baseball Hall of Fame with Bay Area pride

VALLEJO — Even though he has laid his roots in retirement elsewhere, the rough-and-tumble place C.C. Sabathia grew up and its characters who helped him along the way were still on his mind when the phone rang Tuesday afternoon with good news.

Sabathia, 44, will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer alongside Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner, receiving 342 of a possible 394 votes (86.8%) in his first time on the ballot.

He will go in wearing a Yankees cap on his plaque. But Vallejo will be in his heart.

“Being from Vallejo and being from the Bay Area is something I’m very proud of,” Sabathia said on a conference call after the announcement. “I think most people know my story at this point, the trials and tribulations I had coming out of Vallejo, so I’m very proud of where I came from and where I’m sitting today.”

In case you haven’t read his best-selling biography or watched the HBO special, Sabathia’s path to Cooperstown started in a tough part of town called “The Crest.” Before accumulating 251 wins or 3,093 strikeouts — the 14th pitcher ever to reach both milestones — he had to overcome a battle with alcoholism, and before that, his own father’s substance-abuse issues resulted in him being raised primarily by his mother, Margie, and grandmother, Ethel.

By the time the burly 6-foot-6 left-hander was in eighth grade, he already towered over his classmates.

Abe Hobbs, the new Vallejo High baseball coach at the time, knew he had something special on his hands when Sabathia’s cousins introduced them the summer before his freshman year.

“I can hear their raspy voices like it was today saying, ‘Coach, you’ve got to meet my cousin,’” Hobbs said in a phone interview. “I came home and told my wife, ‘I met a guy who’s gonna pitch in the big leagues. She was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘There’s an eighth grader running around these streets that is a gigantic, athletic guy. I don’t know if he’s going to pitch, if he’s going to play first base, but he does things that other kids don’t do.’”

A three-sport start at Vallejo High, Sabathia excelled as a defensive end in the fall, a power forward in the winter and in the spring raked at a .500 clip while reaching 97 mph on the radar gun. Eventually, he settled on pitching and was drafted 20th overall by Cleveland, becoming the youngest pitcher in the majors when he made his debut at 20 years old in 2001.

Sabathia went 17-5 and finished runner-up in the American League Rookie of the Year — to his fellow inductee, Ichiro — but would eventually earn his own hardware in the form of the 2007 AL Cy Young, a 2009 World Series championship with the Yankees and six All-Star appearances.

He hoped he would be drafted by the San Francisco Giants, who selected Tony Torcato one pick earlier, then thought he would spend his entire career in Cleveland. But 11 of Sabathia’s 19 seasons came in New York, which he now calls home with his highschool sweetheart, Amber, and their four kids, while working in the commissioner’s office.

All the while, Sabathia never forgot where he came from.

“People talk about the dirt and the soil and they’re so, so proud of where they came from. With CC, it’s real,” said Hobbs, who maintains a relationship with Sabathia. “That Vallejo pride was instilled from the first time I’m sure he said the word. … People don’t realize the amazing accomplishment it is to come from where he was to where he is now.”

Signs of Sabathia’s philanthropy are all over his hometown, from the North Vallejo Little League field he helped renovate to the high school diamond that now bears his name. Each year, he provides a $25,000 donation to Vallejo High athletics, and he also runs free camps and backpack drives through his PitCCh In foundation.

“I know there are so many folks in Vallejo that are so excited about his induction and so grateful not just for his achievements on the field but all the contributions that he and his wife, Amber, have made in our community,” Vallejo mayor Andrea Sorce said. “They have been such wonderful ambassadors for Vallejo and have made the city so proud.”

Hobbs said he is expecting a call from Sabathia to celebrate and that he plans to attend the July 27 ceremony in Cooperstown if he’s invited. Knowing Sabathia, he said, “This will act as another catalyst for him to help some other people.”

When the phone call came with the news, Sabathia said he was overcome by emotions.

“Just thinking about my journey, my family, my wife, my dad, my mom, all the different people who played a huge role in me getting to where I am today,” he said. “It was just a wave of emotions. Thankful. Blessed. And super happy.”