The abrupt announcement on Monday by Yankees lefty CC Sabathia that he would be leaving the team as their 2015 postseason run was about to kick off in order to attend alcohol rehab came as a major surprise. Now details are beginning to trickle in as to how Sabathia arrived at that decision.
According to a report by the New York Post on Tuesday, the 35-year-old decided on rehab after a bad bender this past weekend in Baltimore. Per the report:
“His drinking got really bad this weekend, and it put him in a really bad place,” said a source close to the team.
“He was afraid. He felt that if I don’t do this now and go into rehab, I don’t know what is going to happen.”
The last straw for Sabathia came during the team’s final regular-season series in Baltimore, where he spent most of his time pounding drinks at a hotel, the source said.
“He drank every day last week apart from the day he pitched,” the source said. “The tipping point was Friday when he was at the stadium. He carried on drinking Saturday.”
Additionally, The Post writes that while Sabathia is not known as a heavy drinker, he hooked the team up with booze and champagne on several occasions, including the playoff-clinching clubhouse party last week as well as the celebration for Alex Rodriguez’s 3000th hit. Sabathia is also said to have capped the weekend off by speaking with Yankees manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman on Sunday saying that he needed help.
While the timing of Sabathia’s decision could not have come at a worse time for the Yankees, it takes a lot for someone to admit they have a problem and move quickly to address it and get treated before it gets even worse.
It’s especially so in Sabathia’s circumstances with the playoffs about to begin and the temptation to dismiss the bender as simply “a bad weekend,” so he definitely deserves props for his sense of urgency in getting the help he needs.
The 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner is dealing with something that’s bigger than baseball right now, and here’s hoping that we see a clean, healthy Sabathia out there on the mound again for the Yankees in 2016.
