I have long been a fan of C.C. Sabathia. I was a fan of David Wells, Rich Garces, and other large pitchers, but Sabathia is easily my favorite of the group. This most likely stems from my experience as an un-svelte right-handed pitcher with back problems, a mediocre fastball, and self-created slurve that I threw 75% of the time.
My favorite comparison between Sabathia's success this season as a Milwaukee Brewer, coincidentally and happily, is Randy Johnson's 1998 stint with the Astros. Less you forget, Johnson was acquired from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Carlos Guillen, Freddy Garcia and John Halama. He proceeded to mutilate the National League for the remainder of the year, going 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 116 strikeouts, making the Astros (*cough*) presumptive trendy World Series picks entering the post-season. Unfortunately, they ran into roid-raging Kevin Brown and the best performances of Sterling Hitchcock's life - losing to the Padres in the NLDS.
Here's the tale of the tape between Sabathia and Unit entering Carsten Charles' start against the Fathers tonight in SD:
Through first 7 starts:
2008 C.C.
W-L: 6-0
ERA: 1.58
CG/SHO: 4/2
K/BB: 52/12
Opp BA: .200
Height: 6'7"
Throws: Left
From... AL to NL Central
1998 Unit
W-L: 6-1
ERA: 1.17
CG/SHO: 3/3
K/BB: 71/14
Opp BA: .183
Height: 6'10"
Throws: Left
From... AL to NL Central
I am Justin Ray, supreme baseball dork.
