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With Sabathia, Cooperstown Adds Another Former Bison

January 21, 2025 - International League (IL)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


There is only one team in baseball that can say soon-to-be inducted Hall of Fame pitcher C.C. Sabathia pitched for them at the Triple-A level and that team is the Buffalo Bisons.

On Tuesday night, Sabathia was named along with reliever Billy Wagner and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki as the National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2026, with both Sabathia and Ichiro getting elected on their first year on the ballot. And because of an injury rehabilitation start with the Bisons in 2006, the Herd can now proudly say that Sabathia will soon be then 22nd individual in Cooperstown that wore a Bisons uniform during their illustrious career. See the List

Sabathia's baseball career had just about everything a pitcher could hope for. Over 3,000 strikeouts to go along with 251 wins. He won a Cy Young Award with the Cleveland Indians in 2007 (working under former Bisons' pitching coach, Carl Willis and former Bisons manager Eric Wedge) and a World Series Title with the New York Yankees in 2009. He did finish 2nd in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2001 (17-5, 4.39), but also racked up six All-Star Game nods and lead the AL in wins twice for the Yanks in 2009 (19) and with a career high 21 victories in 2010.

In fact, the one thing Sabathia didn't really have was a Triple-A career. When he came to Buffalo in his recovery from an early-season oblique injury in 2006, he had already racked up 69 big league wins, more than any other pitcher at that time who was under the age of 26. The impressive numbers he put together between Single-A Carolina and Double-A Akron in 2000 (159 strikeouts in 146.1 innings) meant he skipped right on past the Bisons on his way to being a star in Cleveland.

Sabathia's lone Triple-A start would have to wait over five years since his MLB debut as the Bisons hosted the Syracuse SkyChiefs on April 27, 2006. On a cool 53 degree day at then-Dunn Tire Park, Sabathia allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits in five innings of work, with five strikeouts to only one walk allowed. He struck out the first Triple-A batter he ever faced, SkyChiefs centerfielder Wayne Lydon, more than 5 years after he racked up his first MLB punchout, that of Orioles left fielder (and eventual Bison), Mike Kinkade. By the time Syracuse got on the board in the fifth inning, the Bisons had built him a 4-0 lead thanks to home runs from Lou Merloni and Jake Gautreau. A future Indians teammate, Ryan Garko, put the game away for the Bisons in the seventh with yet another Buffalo home run.

The Herd eventual won the game 8-4. The victory went to Sabathia, ending his Triple-A career with a perfect 1-0 record.

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