By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
C.C. Sabathia, who began his professional baseball career with the Burlington Indians, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday in Cooperstown, New York.
A big left-handed pitcher from Vallejo, California, he was selected in the first round in 1998’s amateur draft. Weeks later, he was pitching for the Burlington team in the Appalachian League, which was then a rookie-level circuit. He struck out 35 batters in 18 innings with Burlington.
After rising quickly through the system with the Cleveland Indians, he played in the major leagues for the Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees. His big-league career ended following the 2019 season with a record of 251-161 and 3,093 strikeouts.
