Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia wins AL Cy Young Award
Indians' Sabathia voted AL Cy Young Award winner Wednesday, November 14, 2007Story by Paul Hoynes

He has grown up right in front of us. Now that he's primed and polished and has the American League Cy Young Award trophy sitting in the back seat, will C.C. Sabathia drive right out of Cleveland?

Sabathia became only the second Indians pitcher, and first in 35 years, to win the Cy Young on Tuesday by a surprisingly easy margin in a vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Sabathia, named on 27 of the 28 ballots, received 119 points. Boston's Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27 ERA) was second with 86 points and the Los Angeles Angels' John Lackey (19-9, 3.01) finished third with 36.

Fausto Carmona, Sabathia's teammate, was fourth in his first full season in the big leagues.

Manager Eric Wedge could be the next Indian to be honored. The BBWAA's AL Manager of the Year will be announced today, and Wedge is one of the favorites.

Sabathia received 19 of 28 first-place votes and eight second-place votes. Beckett received eight first-place votes, 14 second-place votes and four third-place votes.

Lackey received one first-place vote. The points were based on a 5-3-1 tabulation system as two writers in the 14 AL cities voted.

Beckett, baseball's only 20-game winner this year, beat Sabathia in Games 1 and 5 of the AL Championship Series, which Boston won in seven games. Sabathia's postseason failings held no sway with the voters because the Cy Young is decided by regular-season performance.

Sabathia went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA.

He led the big leagues in innings pitched with 241.

"The last couple of weeks, people kept asking me, did I think I had a chance," said Sabathia from his home in Fairfield, Calif. "I definitely thought it would be close, and I definitely thought Josh Beckett could have won it. I'm glad it worked out this way."
The Indians, in 1998, drafted Sabathia out of Vallejo (Calif.) High School. He was tall and too heavy, but he was left-handed and threw hard.

Then manager Charlie Manuel, against the wishes of the player development people, put him in the big-league rotation in 2001.

"I like him," said Manuel. "He looks big out there on the mound."
At 6-7 and 300 pounds, Sabathia had no choice in looking big. He won 17 games, his best season until this year.

Between then and now Sabathia lost some bulk, got scared out of running the streets by having a gun pointed in his face during a robbery, lost his father to cancer, got married, became a father and learned that it is not necessary to throw every pitch 98 mph to win.

"One of the joys of this job is watching a player go from teenager, to young man, to a man and a leader on this team," said Tribe General Manager Mark Shapiro.

Next year will be Sabathia's 11th with the Indians. It could be his last because he'll be eligible for free agency after the season.

The front office is working on a contract proposal to show ownership. If ownership OK's it, it will be sent to Sabathia's agents. Shapiro would like to have the matter resolved, one way or the other, by Feb. 15, the day training camp usually opens.

This is going to be an expensive proposition.

Sabathia will make a base salary of $11 million next year. He received a $2 million bonus -- his 2008 base salary jumped from $9 million to $11 million -- for winning the Cy Young. On top of that, he received another $250,000 for winning the award.
We have the utmost respect and appreciation for C.C. and have a strong desire to keep him here," said Shapiro. "C.C., I think, shares that desire.

"The only question is can we find a business deal that works for the Indians organization and C.C.? We're going to take the next three months to find that out."

Sabathia told XM Radio: "I've been an Indian my entire career. I grew up here, and I've been here since I was 17 years old, so I really can't see myself leaving the organization. My agent is meeting with the team, and hopefully they can get something done real soon."
Will he stay or will he go will be known soon enough. Here's a hint: If Sabathia wants $20 million a year to stay, it's not going to happen.

Another question of equal magnitude is just where Sabathia, 27, stands in his career. The Cy Young is nice but guarantees nothing.

Gaylord Perry, the only other Indian to win the Cy Young, was 34 when he won it after going 24-16 in 1972. He won his second Cy Young six years later in 1978 for San Diego.

"I watch C.C. every time he's on TV," said Perry. "He's got great stuff. He just has to learn how to harness it. If he does, he could be one of the greats."

Roger Clemens won his first two Cy Youngs at 24 and 25 for Boston in 1986 and 1987. He was 42 when he won his seventh while with Houston in 2004.

Bartolo Colon, a former Sabathia teammate, was 32 when he won the Cy Young for the Angels in 2005. This winter he's a free agent with a bad arm.

Arizona's Brandon Webb won the 2006 NL Cy Young at 27. He followed that by going 18-10 with 236 1/3 innings pitched this year.

Sabathia, who has never had a serious arm injury, is 100-63 in his career with the Indians. He's won 11 or more games in each of his seven seasons.

"I feel strongly that this season wasn't just a spike in C.C.'s career," said Indians pitching coach Carl Willis. "It's taken him a few years at the major-league level to find out what works and what doesn't work.

"He has always had that great fastball, but he's learned to pitch effectively and efficiently without it. That bodes well for what he can do in the future."

Just where the future takes him has yet to be decided.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158