Sabathia pulls out of Baseball Classic
03/01/2006WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The thought began to creep into C.C. Sabathia's mind a week or so before he reported to Spring Training camp.
He knew his left arm wasn't ready for the grind of the World Baseball Classic, and he wondered how he was going to get it ready in the span of a month.
On Wednesday, Sabathia decided it wasn't worth the risk, as he relinquished his spot on the 30-man roster for Team USA. The Mets' Billy Wagner did the same, and the two pitchers were replaced by Gary Majewski of the Nationals and Al Leiter of the Yankees.
For the 25-year-old Sabathia, the decision came down to a simple matter of preparation.
"I'm not ready to pitch in meaningful games this early in the year," he said. "Under different circumstances, I would love to participate. But it didn't feel right."
What set Sabathia back was the fact that he had to start his offseason throwing program later than usual, because of flooding near his home in Fairfield, Calif.
"I didn't get to do the amount of long-toss I would have liked to do," he said.
Sabathia, who will be the Indians' Opening Day starter on April 2 in Chicago, has to be careful with his approach early in the year. He is not without his history of April injuries.
In April of 2003, Sabathia left a start because of a hyperextended elbow. He missed two weeks in April of '04 because of an irritated biceps tendon. And he began last season on the disabled list after pulling his right oblique muscle while warming up before a start in Spring Training.
Sabathia said those injuries didn't play into his thinking about the Classic, but he certainly didn't want to get off to another slow start in '06.
After pitching one inning of an intrasquad game Tuesday, Sabathia told reporters he was having second thoughts about the tournament. Though his arm didn't necessarily feel bad, it just didn't feel up to par for participation in games of importance.
"It was a tough decision," he said. "It's something I've been thinking about for a while. It just didn't feel right. I felt pretty good [Tuesday] throwing, but it was something in the back of my mind."
Also in the back of Sabathia's mind is his own competitive nature. He'd like to believe he could treat the Classic games like any Grapefruit League game, but he knows better.
"Pitching in front of 30,000 or 40,000 in the tournament is a lot different than pitching in front of a few hundred people in Kissimmee," he said. "I know how competitive I am, and I know the type of person I am."
That competitiveness is one of the reasons Sabathia, who went 15-10 with a 4.03 ERA in 31 starts last season, seemed a bit sullen at having to announce that he's pulling out of the event.
In 2000, he was selected to the 28-man roster for the U.S. Olympic team. But when it became clear he would only be used out of the bullpen, the Indians had him withdraw.
"This is the second time around," he said. "Maybe it's not meant to be."
Count Sabathia among those who would rather see the Classic played in the middle of the season. He thinks players would be receptive to that idea.
"Maybe how they do hockey and the Olympics, when they shut [the NHL] down for 10 days or so," he said. "[The World Baseball Classic] is a great tournament, and baseball is going to benefit from it. I think if they get the timing better for pitchers, it would be a lot better."
The timing just didn't work out for this particular pitcher.
"Some guys take a little bit longer to get warmed up than other guys," Sabathia said. "I'm one of those guys who needs a little time to get ready and get right."
Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/
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