CC Sabathia became the 24th player or manager to get his number retired by the New York Yankees, and the Hall of Fame left-hander was honored with a plaque in Monument Park during a ceremony before a doubleheader opener against Baltimore on Friday. Sabathia joined Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada as the fifth member of the 2009 World Series champion Yankees with a retired number and plaque.

"I never envisioned myself going into Monument Park," Sabathia said. "To be able to be sitting here now, playing here 11 years is an incredible feeling, and that's why I've said the last couple of weeks, this feels bigger to me than the Hall of Fame because I know what was at stake when I came here."

Now 46, Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract before the 2009 season after being convinced by general manager Brian Cashman. Sabathia went 19-8 with a 3.37 ERA in 34 starts for the Yankees in his first season. He earned the ALCS MVP Award and started Games 1 and 4 as the Yankees beat Philadelphia for their 27th title. Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts during 19 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees.

Sabathia was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2025, receiving 86.8% of the vote. He was inducted with Billy Wagner and Ichiro Suzuki. The ceremony began with video messages from Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Posada and Bernie Williams. Sabathia threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his son Carsten, a Milwaukee minor league first baseman.