Joe Mauer, going into Baseball Hall of Fame, thinks ex-Yankee CC Sabathia is deserving as well
Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins slides into home safely past CC Sabathia of the Yankees on a passed ball by Jorge Posada in the third inning of Game 1 of the ALDS Yankee Stadium on Oct. 7, 2009. Credit: Getty Images/Jared Wickerham
COOPERSTOWN — Joe Mauer is the only catcher to win three batting titles and was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on his first try. The six-time All-Star with Minnesota will be inducted on Sunday.
CC Sabathia will be eligible for the first time when the BBWAA’s Class of 2025 balloting commences later this year, and Mauer thinks the former Yankees lefthander is a Hall of Famer, too.
“I do, personally, but I know that’s not up to me,” Mauer said when asked by Newsday on Saturday during a meet-the-media session at Clark Sports Center, the site of the induction. “But yeah, he’s one of those type of talents and one of those type of players.”
Sabathia is one of only five pitchers to post at least 250 wins (251), a .600 winning percentage (.609) and 3,000 strikeouts (3,093). That was compiled across 19 seasons, the final 11 with the Yankees.
Mauer, a career .306 hitter in 15 seasons with the Twins, never had much luck against Sabathia. He hit .196 against him in regular-season play, going 9-for-46 with no homers and four RBIs.
“CC was the first pitcher I faced in the big leagues, Opening Day in ’04,” said Mauer, who walked and struck out swinging against him in that game against Cleveland. “I thought to myself after the game, ‘Jeez, if the big leagues is like this, it’s going to be pretty tough.’
“I had many battles against CC over the years. Just an unbelievable competitor. Great stuff . . . He’s one of the tougher guys I had to go up against, for sure.”
The Class of 2025 could have a few New York ties.
Ichiro Suzuki, who delivered 311 of his 3,089 major-league hits in three seasons with the Yankees, is a first-ballot lock. Former Mets closer Billy Wagner will enter his final year of eligibility after finishing five votes short last time.
Notes & quotes: Joe Castiglione, in his 42nd season as a radio play-by-play voice for the Red Sox, received the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence . . . Former Marlins general manager and Yankees assistant GM Kim Ng has been appointed to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s board of directors. “She has brought knowledge and passion to the game throughout three decades as one of baseball’s most respected executives,” chairman of the board Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement.
