NEW YORK _ CC Sabathia's last pitch in the majors was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
The 39-year-old left-hander, who announced his intent to retire last November after signing a one-year contract with the Yankees, was replaced on the 25-man ALCS roster late Friday morning after suffering a subluxation (partial dislocation) of his left shoulder joint.
Right-hander Ben Heller replaced Sabathia on the roster.
The injury, an equal topic of conversation in the home clubhouse along with the reality of the ugly 8-3 loss that put the Yankees in a 3-1 series hole to the Astros, occurred in the eighth inning on the third pitch of George Springer's at-bat.
Sabathia, though in obvious pain, tried to stay in, even throwing a warmup pitch watched by manager Aaron Boone and trainer Steve Donohue. After throwing that pitch, Sabathia, still in intense pain, staggered off the mound near tears, accompanied on his walk to the dugout by a loud and prolonged standing ovation by the Yankee Stadium crowd.
"Every single time he went out there, you had to rip the ball or rip his jersey off to get that man off the mound," Aaron Judge said after Thursday's game, one of many teammates visibly moved by the sight of Sabathia leaving the mound as he did. "He got everything out of that arm; that's a warrior right there. That's why he's been a leader of this team for so many years, and that's why he has so much respect around the game, and it was tough to see; he left it all out there."
Sabathia finished his 19-year career, which very well may land him in Cooperstown, 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA. Earlier this season he became just the 14th pitcher to record 250 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. Sabathia finished with 3,093 career strikeouts, placing him 16th all time and third among left-handers.
