Yankees Ace CC Sabathia On Cooperstown, Torpedo Bats, And Where To Eat In New York

Forbes

14-04-2025

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - APRIL 30: Pitcher CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees waves to the crowd ... More after recording his 3,000th career strike out against John Ryan Murphy of the Arizona Diamondbacks during second inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on April 30, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by)
CC Sabathia's résumé doesn't need embellishment. Yankees ace. World Series champion. Six-time All-Star. 3,000 strikeouts. Cy Young winner. And as of this year, a first-ballot hall of famer.
The lefty pitcher is already locking in his lineup for his Cooperstown induction—200 miles from Yankee Stadium, where Sabathia became a legend—stacked with former teammates, especially the catchers who tracked every inning, every signal, and every strike. 'All of them. All of them. Whoever's able to make it,' he said about his guest list. 'I plan on having everybody out… Victor Martinez, Jorge Posada, Brian McCann, Russell Martin—all these different guys that had an impact on my career. I'm excited to have a chance to celebrate with them in July.'
These days, the Yankees legend is just as committed to staying healthy as he was in the league. His retirement routine includes strength training, smarter nutrition, and something he says has made a big difference: Xyzal. 'That's the biggest part of the routine—taking this Xyzal at night and getting a good night's sleep,' he explained. 'It's been a huge help in retirement, especially with how bad my allergies are.'
Sabathia is a self-proclaimed foodie, but he doesn't claim any kitchen dominance himself—'I don't cook, no.' His wife, Amber, knows her way around the recipes that matter. Before Sabathia's grandmother passed away, she and his aunt made sure Amber learned how to make all the family dishes. 'Amber can really, really make a good mac and cheese,' he says. 'That's, I think, me and the kids' favorite thing that she makes.'
With Cooperstown on the horizon and the season in full swing, the Yankees great opened up to Forbes about his food memories, favorite restaurants, what would be on the menu if he hosted baseball's version of the Masters Champions Dinner, and where he stands on the controversial torpedo bats.
It was humbling. It was a lot of fun. I had a lot of family and friends in town. They count the votes for the hall of fame that day, so you don't know if you're getting in. They don't give you a heads-up. They tell you not to have a party just in case you don't get the call. That last 45 minutes of waiting was a bit anxious, but it made for a good moment.
It's completely different. You look back and you get the chance to appreciate your journey, what you've been through personally. Having the chance to go into the hall of fame makes me think about my grandmother, my mom, my dad, all the people that affected me in a positive way on the road to having this career. It's weird once you get in and you start thinking about, 'I had this break,' and, 'This person helped me out.' For me, thinking about my high school coach was such a huge influence on me. I met him at 14 years old and I can't thank him enough. It's just having a chance to celebrate with those people that meant so much to you throughout your life.
It's a lot different when you get a chance to celebrate a World Series. Those are my brothers for life. I'm going to see A-Rod. I hang out with Jeter all the time—Posada, A.J. Burnett, all these different guys. It's just a different feeling. It's the ultimate. It's the reason why you play the game. It's to win a World Series and ultimately get into the Hall of Fame.
I think just wanting to get healthy. I've always been the bigger guy. I've always considered myself to be like an offensive lineman. If you look at the football players, the guys that play the offensive line—I always liken myself to those guys. Kind of big, athletic. But I knew at the back end of my career it was going to be harder to play with that much weight. There was a period in my career where I got down to 265 pounds. I figured out that that was too low. My last maybe six to seven years, I played in a range of 280 to 290. Figuring out how to stay within that range and have my body work best set me up for my post-career—being able to shed a lot of that weight, turn it into muscle.
I think my journey with food has always been up and down. Growing up as a kid, I ate a lot at home. My grandmother cooked a lot—not the healthiest stuff, you know what I mean? So just having to understand and learn that.
As an adult—like I said, through my 20s—I think I really understood how much food affected me as a player, as my body, in my 30s and 40s. Having a chance to now—I eat basically like a Mediterranean diet every day. There are times where I still go out and I'll have my Carbone or whatever else and indulge. I love food. I'm a foodie. I'm always trying different places and different things like that. Having a balance of being able to work out but still be able to enjoy food is something that I really enjoy now in my retirement.
No, not at all. I mean, I think it's just my nutrition. I worked out heavy when I was playing. That was always a part of my routine. But I think just now—understanding how much food plays a factor in building muscle, keeping fat off, and those different things—that's helped me change my body.
Her collard greens were always the best. She always made red beans and rice. Anytime she made chitlins for my grandfather, she always made me red beans and rice. So that was always my favorite.
She made everything from scratch. So I had homemade ice cream as a kid. She made bundt cake. She made all of our jelly and preserves—everything was all from scratch. She made this plum jelly that I still have dreams about, that I would eat just with a spoon out of the jar. So that's probably my favorite thing.
I think Clinton St. Baking Co. is number one [for breakfast]. I think that they got my favorite pancakes in the city.
I think for lunch, I love Jacob's Pickles on the west side. I'm a huge Carbone fan but I know it's hard for people to get a reservation. Like Don Angie's really good. They got a really good lasagna. I love Italian food, especially living here in New York. Emilio's Ballato is really good. Lucali's is awesome. It's fun having a chance to live in the city and try new restaurants all the time.
Cali is so big. Anytime I go to Northern California, I always want to try to get Mexican food. That's the biggest thing that I miss about not living on the West Coast anymore. So it's always trying to find the best taco or burrito truck that I can find when I'm home.
Kansas City was always good. Minnesota is a good food city. Miami is good. When I wasn't a Yankee, coming to New York was always good. Seattle's got some good spots. Mookie [Betts] texts me every time he goes on the road. He'll text me and ask me, like, 'Give me some recommendations in the city.' So I still got a pretty good list.
Hall of Fame is in the summertime and you know, it's baseball, so it would have to be some kind of barbecue. I love Kansas City barbecue—like Gates—or even, you know, they got a place in Alabama called Dreamland that's really good. So it would probably be some kind of barbecue or soul food type of vibe.
Oh yeah. I mean, definitely her homemade ice cream would be good.
Oh, I think it's great. I think it's good. I think for the longest time, people have been talking about how much pitching has dominated the game. So I'm excited to see these hitters kind of combating that with a bat that's going to help them out and help offense. I'm always an offense-first guy. I don't want to see a 1–0 game. I want to see an 11–12, 10–9 game. So I'm excited to see what this can bring as far as offense goes.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.