page_title: CC Sabathia
section_title: 2009: Major League Wins Leader, ALCS MVP, World Series champion
hierarchical_section_title: CC Sabathia / Professional career / New York Yankees (2009–2019) / 2009: Major League Wins Leader, ALCS MVP, World Series champion
caption_attribution_description: CC Sabathia
context_page_description: Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and the New York Yankees. Sabathia batted and threw left-handed.
  Sabathia made his major league debut with the Indians in 2001 and placed second in the 2001 AL Rookie of the Year voting behind 2001 AL MVP Ichiro Suzuki. Sabathia played the first seven-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Indians, with whom he won the 2007 Cy Young Award. He led the Indians to the 2007 AL Central Division title and their first postseason berth since his rookie year. Following a trade, Sabathia played the second half of the 2008 MLB season with the Milwaukee Brewers, helping them make the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.
  In the 2008 offseason, Sabathia signed with the New York Yankees for seven years and $161 million; at the time, this was the largest contract ever signed by a pitcher. With the Yankees, Sabathia led all of Major League Baseball in wins in both 2009 and 2010 and won a World Series ring in 2009. He was also voted the 2009 American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player.
context_section_description: On December 18, 2008, Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the New York Yankees. It was the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history at the time. On March 26, 2009, manager Joe Girardi announced that Sabathia would be the Opening Day starter and the starter for the home opener at the new Yankee Stadium. Sabathia finished the season 19–8 with a 3.37 ERA (the fourth-best in the American League) and 1.15 WHIP across 34 starts. He struck out 197 batters in 230 innings against 67 walks, gave up 197 hits and just 18 home runs, held opponents to a .232 batting average, and threw two complete games (one shutout).  His 19 wins were tied for the most in the major leagues that year alongside Félix Hernández, Justin Verlander, and Adam Wainwright. He was also awarded the August 2009 AL Pitcher of the Month Award, posting a 5–0 record in 6 starts with a 2.64 ERA and 49 strikeouts in ​44 ¹⁄₃ innings. Sabathia was particularly dominant after the All-Star break, going 11–2 in 15 starts, striking out 102 batters in ​101 ²⁄₃ innings and posting a 2.74 ERA. The Yankees finished the regular season with a 103–59 record, the best in the Major Leagues.
  Sabathia earned his first career postseason victory with the Yankees in the first game of the 2009 ALDS against the Minnesota Twins. He gave up two runs (one earned) in ​6 ²⁄₃ innings with eight strikeouts as the Yankees swept the series in three games, their first postseason series win since 2004. Sabathia also won the American League Championship Series (ALCS) Most Valuable Player Award; in two starts against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, he went 2–0 with a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings, throwing eight innings of one-run ball in both of his starts. The Yankees beat the Angels in six games to advance to their first World Series since 2003.
  Despite failing to pick up a win in either of his World Series starts, Sabathia was effective, posting a 3.29 ERA in ​13 ²⁄₃ innings to help lead the Yankees to a series win over the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in six games. The World Series championship was the Yankees' 27th, their first in the new Yankee Stadium, their first since 2000, and the first of Sabathia's career. In five postseason starts, Sabathia went 3–1 with a 1.98 ERA in ​36 ¹⁄₃ innings. Sabathia finished fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting behind Zack Greinke, Hernández, and Justin Verlander and 21st in the MVP voting (being one of six Yankees players to receive MVP votes). He also received the Warren Spahn Award for the third year in a row, becoming the first Yankees pitcher to win it since Andy Pettitte in 2003.
caption: CC Sabathia in 2009
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