Speaker 1: We're here in Tokyo, Japan, and we're joined right now
Speaker 1: by a man that was one of the greatest left
Speaker 1: handers of his generation. We actually have two of them
Speaker 1: in one dome, Clayton Kershaw and our guest C. C.
Speaker 1: Sabbathia ce Cee. Thanks a lot for the time, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Oh, no problem. Thank you. Great to have you here.
Speaker 1: And I know you've been such a big part of
Speaker 1: the ambassadorship of Major League Baseball with Commissioner Manfred.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know, it started the program about
Speaker 3: three years ago now, commissioned Ambassador's program. And you know myself,
Speaker 3: Andrew Jones, Adam Jones, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, you know,
Speaker 3: just some guys that you know, love the game of baseball,
Speaker 3: you know, gave their life, you know, most of their
Speaker 3: young life to baseball and just want to be around
Speaker 3: the game. So it's fun to be here in Japan,
Speaker 3: you know, witnessing opening day, you know, taking this in baseball.
Speaker 1: Well you mentioned those names, and those of us that
Speaker 1: have been around the Dodgers for a while, we were
Speaker 1: all traumatizing those nine Phillies back together here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know, you got Victorino you got Brian,
Speaker 3: you got Jimmy.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's the core of that team. Right.
Speaker 1: Goodness, at least not here, right.
Speaker 2: Cee Cee.
Speaker 1: What's it like for you now that you are a
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. I know you haven't had the induction
Speaker 1: ceremony yet, but do you feel different when you walk
Speaker 1: around these baseball circles?
Speaker 2: No, I mean I still feel the same.
Speaker 3: You know, it hasn't I guess it hasn't probably really
Speaker 3: sunk it in yet because the ceremony hasn't hit you know,
Speaker 3: in the moment, you know, it was incredible weak, you know,
Speaker 3: having a chance to get inducted and then go up
Speaker 3: to Cooperstown and you know, go to Cooperstown as a
Speaker 3: Hall of Famer, that was a special thing. But you know,
Speaker 3: I'm sure after July, you know, I'll feel more, you know,
Speaker 3: like a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: I saw you yesterday around the batting cage talking to
Speaker 1: Clayton Kershaw. He will join you one day in Cooperstown.
Speaker 1: What's the relationship that you had with Clayton when you
Speaker 1: were pitching and is there a mutual respect?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, it's definitely a mutual respect.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, obviously watching from edistance for a
Speaker 3: long time, never really got a chance to interact though,
Speaker 3: obviously playing on different codes, but being able to appreciate,
Speaker 3: you know, what he's done for so long, you know,
Speaker 3: in the big leagues. I'm excited, you know, I'm excited
Speaker 3: for him to get three thousand strikeouts, get healthy, and
Speaker 3: you know, enjoy, you know, just right off into the sunset.
Speaker 1: Since you're both lefties and both great pitchers, the greatest
Speaker 1: of your generation. When you would watch him pitch, was
Speaker 1: there anything that reminded him reminding you of yourself?
Speaker 3: Well, I just think the competitiveness, you know, just wanting
Speaker 3: to go out and take the ball and give your
Speaker 3: team a chance to win every time out. That was
Speaker 3: something that I prided myself on, and I feel like
Speaker 3: he did the same thing.
Speaker 1: Cecy. With all these numbers and you know dissection of
Speaker 1: you know, pitches, doesn't it come down to that. Isn't
Speaker 1: that what separates the great ones that can be consistent
Speaker 1: and sustain a career, the competitiveness just compete every pitch,
Speaker 1: every at bat.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3: I mean I think that's what That's what defined my career.
Speaker 3: You know, it wasn't one pitch It wasn't you know,
Speaker 3: you know, any special pitch that I had or anything
Speaker 3: like that. It was just me wanting to go and
Speaker 3: get my team a chance to win every single time out.
Speaker 3: And you know that that ended up being, you know,
Speaker 3: a career worthy enough in coopers to be in Cooperstown.
Speaker 3: So I think just going out and competing is something
Speaker 3: that's lost definitely in a lot of certain pitchers.
Speaker 1: That great baritone voice you're listening to is Hall of
Speaker 1: Famer C. C.
Speaker 2: Sabbathia.
Speaker 1: I feel like when you were traded to the Brewers,
Speaker 1: that was one of the greatest competitive moments I have
Speaker 1: ever witnessed. You were on the verge of free agency,
Speaker 1: yet you were trying to get the Brewers into the
Speaker 1: playoffs and try to advance in the postseason. What drove
Speaker 1: you to put aside the business of baseball to be
Speaker 1: able to take the ball within a three day period.
Speaker 2: I think, just want to win.
Speaker 3: You know, I've always you know, wanted to be a winner,
Speaker 3: and you know, having a chance to go to Milwaukee
Speaker 3: and realizing that team hadn't been the playoffs. I think
Speaker 3: in twenty six years, you know, especially, we had a
Speaker 3: good group, you know, Ricky Ricky Weeks was on that team,
Speaker 3: Billy Hall, Craig Council was on that team, Mike Cameron,
Speaker 3: so Gwyn j Prince fielder. So it was. It was
Speaker 3: a fun group to be around. I just didn't want
Speaker 3: the season the end. You know, Ben Sheets had went
Speaker 3: down with he had a shoulder injury, so you know,
Speaker 3: I felt like the best opportunity for us to win
Speaker 3: was me taking the ball as many times I had to,
Speaker 3: and I felt healthy and felt good and was just
Speaker 3: wanting to go out and win ball games for the team.
Speaker 1: Man, that was so special. I'll never forget it.
Speaker 2: I really won't.
Speaker 1: CC Sabbathia Hall of Famer is our guest before I
Speaker 1: let you go. The Dodgers are trying to do something
Speaker 1: that the Yankees did twenty five years ago, to win
Speaker 1: back to back championships. When you look at this team
Speaker 1: and everybody's talking about already the World Series, you've had
Speaker 1: those expectations on you. What's the biggest key for these
Speaker 1: group of stars.
Speaker 3: I think just staying healthy. It seems like the culture
Speaker 3: here is really good. Seems like the guys get along,
Speaker 3: they root for each other, They're pulling the rope in
Speaker 3: the right direction. The same direction. But I think it's
Speaker 3: just about saying healthy. They have so much pitching here
Speaker 3: that these guys can stay healthy, it's going to be
Speaker 3: really tough to beat them.
Speaker 2: Low key.
Speaker 1: The offense kind of helped them win the World Series
Speaker 1: last year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely, But defense wins championships.
Speaker 1: Last night we saw that, right, They won that game
Speaker 1: with a really good defense, good base running, good approaches.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I mean, you know, with the arms and the
Speaker 3: pitching that they have, you know, top to bottom, from
Speaker 3: starters to the bullpen, they're gonna be really hard to beat.
Speaker 1: Awesome meeting you for the first time. I've admired you
Speaker 1: from AFAR. Like I said, what you did in Milwaukee
Speaker 1: one of the greatest stretches of time a pitcher in
Speaker 1: the last thirty years has ever performed. And you deserve
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame no matter where you pitched, no
Speaker 1: matter what city you pitched in. Just that type of
Speaker 1: competitiveness and love for the game really stands out CC
Speaker 1: And it's been a pleasure speaking with you.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that, And that's all I wanted my career
Speaker 3: to convey was just going out being a good teammate
Speaker 3: and trying to, you know, compete every time out