ANAHEIM, Calif. — The money is great and no one turns down that kind of money, and you take it with all the blessings attached.
But the money also is a potential booby-trap. You take it and you take a lot more than the big paycheck every two weeks. You take it, as CC Sabathia did, and that means you also accept all the understandings that come with the largest contract ever given a pitcher.
You are taking the $161 million from the Yankees, which is a bit like taking a loan from The Mob. There are strings attached. This is an organization with a championship-only DNA and a championship drought that they might kill for in, say, Cleveland or Milwaukee, but that costs people their jobs in the Bronx.
“It is sad,” Andy Pettitte said. “But you know all the regular season stuff is not really going to mean nothing if you are him if you don’t perform now. When you come here, like he came here, the pressure is just awesome.”
Fortunately for the Yankees, so is Sabathia. He has embraced all the responsibilities. Of the contract. Of being the ace for a team with the must-win credo. Of being the big horse at this time of year.
Last night he took on a few more roles: Momentum stopper and short-rest starter. He made sure the Angels’ winning streak lasted just one game. And the controversy over Joe Girardi’s pitching decisions, Sabathia made the most important choice by his manager look brilliant.
Sabathia was so good — and for so long — that he kept Girardi from even having to consider more bullpen gymnastics in Game 4. The big lefty was economical early, clutch in the middle innings and dominant in the end. The overall result was eight masterful innings in a 10-1 rout of the Angels that pushed the Yankees within one victory of the World Series.
With his work in this ALCS, Sabathia has erased previous concerns about inadequacy in October and ineptitude against the Angels. He has pitched eight innings in both of his starts in this ALCS. The last Yankee to pitch at least that long twice in one postseason series was Mike Torrez, who threw two complete games in the 1977 World Series.
At this moment, Sabathia has three of the Yankees’ six postseason wins. He has pitched 22 2/3 of a possible 27 innings in his games. He has yielded just three earned runs in those 22 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out 20. To call him brilliant this postseason is probably understatement.
“I never had any doubt about being able to perform on this stage and pitch well in October,” said Sabathia, who before this year had a 7.92 ERA in five postseason starts. “I feel great and hopefully I can keep it going.”
Early on, while the Yankees were still struggling offensively in the clutch, Sabathia worked with brevity. He was 38 pitches through four innings as the deception on his changeup was again masterful. Another Alex Rodriguez homer gave Sabathia a 5-0 lead going to the bottom of the fifth. Kendry Morales homered with one out and two singles followed. Was the odometer nearing empty on short rest?
Nope. Sabathia retired the top of the order, Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu. In the sixth, the first two Angels reached, and Sabathia responded by inducing a Juan Rivera double play and a Howie Kendrick lineout. And in the final two innings, he went six-up, six down. Was he tired? His fastball was still 95 mph, and he recorded three of his five overall strikeouts.
“He smelled a victory,” Eiland said. “The good ones always do.”
He is a good one, and is paid that way. Highest-paid pitcher ever. And this postseason, he’s been priceless.