New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was caught on camera over the weekend being restrained by a friend when a fight broke out outside a nightclub in Toronto. On Monday, the lefthander admitted that his reaction was not a good look.
“I just flipped out, you know. I could have handled it better,” Sabathia told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “Made a bad decision. Sometimes these things happen.”
Sabathia said some hecklers set him off after they were getting on the 35-year-old about the brutal season he has had thus far. The former ace has a 4-9 record this year with a 5.23 ERA and has not been much help to the Yankees.
Fortunately, a friend who was with Sabathia pushed him into a taxi and got him away from the bar before a street brawl broke out. Yankees manager Joe Girardi reminded his players that they should always assume they are being filmed.
“You have to be more careful than you’ve ever been,” he said. “Everything’s fair game. There’s no privacy.”
Regardless of what was said to Sabathia, it’s not a good idea to go out on the town and surround yourself with the opposing team’s fans if you can’t handle having insults thrown your way. Ignoring the noise is all part of being a professional athlete, especially in a situation like that.
