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Sabathia played the first seven and a half seasons of his career with the Cleveland Indians, where he won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award. He played the second half of the 2008 MLB season with the Milwaukee Brewers, leading them to the NL Wild Card, their first playoff appearance in 26 years. Sabathia is regarded as one of the most durable pitchers in Major League Baseball, having easily amassed an average of over 200 innings pitched per season during his career.

Sabathia was born in Vallejo, California, and attended Vallejo High School, where he lettered in baseball, basketball, and football. As a teenager, Sabathia played summer baseball in the Major League Baseball youth program Rebuilding Baseball in Inner cities (RBI). In baseball, he compiled a mark of 6–0 with an 0.77 ERA (46 2⁄3 IP, 14 H, 82 K) during his senior season. Coming out of the draft he was the top high school prospect in Northern California according to Baseball America.

In football, he was an all-conference tight end. He received scholarship offers to play college football, including one from UCLA, and actually signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Hawaiʻi.

Sabathia was drafted in the first round (20th overall) by the Indians in the 1998 MLB Draft. He signed for a $1.3 million bonus.

Milwaukee Info

The Phoenix stadium, like the

Me: When the Milwaukee Brewers

Miller Park, Milwaukee Brewers

Bernie gets ready to slide

In 2000, he was selected for the 28-man United States Olympic Team roster. He appeared in one pre-Olympic tournament game in Sydney, Australia, but was not on the official 24-man, Gold Medal-winning roster because he was called up by the Cleveland Indians. He was named the Indians' 2000 Minor League Player of the Year (receiving the "Lou Boudreau Award").

Bernie Brewer\x26#39;s slide

Go Brewers!

to expand to Milwaukee.

5_1_09 DBacks vs Brewers

Bernie Brewer, Teutonic mascot

In 2001, he was the youngest player in the Major Leagues. Sabathia led the league in hits per 9 innings pitched (7.44), was third in the league in win–loss percentage (17–5, .773), fourth in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (8.53), sixth in wins, and seventh in strikeouts (171). He finished second in the AL voting for Rookie of the Year, behind only Ichiro Suzuki. For his performance, Sabathia was rewarded with a four-year $9.5 million contract, with a club option for 2006, on February 23, 2002. In the 2002 season, he was tenth in the AL in strikeouts, with 149.
In 2003, he had the tenth-best ERA in the AL (3.60). He was also named to the American League All-Star team for the first time, with a repeat appearance in 2004.

In the old County Stadium,

Milwaukee County Stadium

Brewers\x26#39; Homers Doom Santana,

Brewers Ballpark Poster

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The Indians picked up their $7 million club option for 2006 on April 27, 2005 and Sabathia signed a two-year, $17.75 million deal. In 2005, he was fourth in the AL in strikeouts/9 IP (7.37), seventh in strikeouts (161) and eighth in wins (15). This marked his fifth straight season of double digit wins to open a career. He threw the fastest fastball in the AL in 2005, averaging 94.7 miles per hour. He also hit his first career home run as a batter in interleague play off of Elizardo Ramirez in May. The Indians went 20–11 in his starts. In 2006, he led the major leagues with 6 complete games. He also led the AL in shutouts (2), was third in ERA (3.22), sixth in strikeouts per 9 IP (8.03) and eighth in strikeouts (172). He became the first left-handed pitcher to start his career with six consecutive seasons of double digit wins. Sabathia collected his 1,000th career strikeout on May 21, fanning the player who beat him out for Rookie of the Year honors: Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners. He was also named to the American League All-Star team for the third time. On September 28, he became the youngest pitcher (27 years, 69 days) to record 100 career wins since Greg Maddux in 1993. On October 23, Sabathia won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding AL Pitcher. His pitching performance led the Cleveland Indians to their first American League Central Division Championship since 2001, his rookie season. For his performance, he was awarded the 2007 American League Cy Young Award joining Gaylord Perry as the only two Cleveland Indians pitchers to ever win the award. (Cliff Lee became the third the following season.) Sabathia also won the coveted Warren Spahn Award given to the best left-handed pitcher in the Majors. Despite his strong regular season, Sabathia did not perform well against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. In two starts, he went 0–2 with a 10.45 ERA. Sabathia began the 2008 season with a 6–8 record and a 3.83 ERA in 18 starts. He was leading the American League in strikeouts (123) and strikeouts per 9.0 innings (9.0) while ranking second in innings pitched (122.1) and tied for second in complete games (3). However, with the Indians out of playoff contention, and with Sabathia an impending free agent, the Indians sought to trade Sabathia.