C.C.? He gone! Plus programming notes.
Posted on July 7th, 2008 – 2:54 PMBy La Velle
The Twins don’t have to worry about facing C.C. Sabathia four or five times a year anymore now that he’s been shipped to the Brewers for prospects. It does mean that he could throw his 290-pound body in the middle of Twins-Brewers interleague battles if he sticks around.
Reporter’s note: But that’s just wishful thinking. As Dave pointed out at 3:00, C.C. turned down offers from Cleveland and is likely headed for free agency unless he falls in love with Milwaukee. I got a little ahead of myself there, sorry.
I wrote on Sunday about how Sabathia has been a Twins nemesis through the years. I looked up a few stories for background and entertained myself with the memories. I wanted to include highlights but didn’t have the space. But here’s a few:
Sept. 24, 2003: Sabathia, trying to stop the Twins’ run the AL Central title that year: “”Anybody but them,” he said. “I’ve got friends over there, but I love to beat them.”
Apr. 18, 2005: After hearing that Sabathia hates the Twins, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire refuses to talk about him. “I don’t talk about him because he hates us,” Gardenhire said. “I’m serious. If he hates us, I don’t want to talk about him.”
Sabathia then backed off his earlier comments. “I’ve stopped using the word `hate,’-” he said. “It’s more like jealousy to see them playing in October and it should be us. They are the team to beat, and that’s the spot we want.”
June 1, 2005: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire gets ejected in a loss to the Indians. Sabathia spent the game buzzing Twins batters, yelling at them when they squared to bunt and staring into the Twins dugout during the game.
“It was a frustrating game in that we lost to that big lefthander over there,” Gardenhire said. “I don’t like losing to him.”
May 15, 2007: Gardenhire, on bunting on Sabathia: “We always try to irri, I mean, bunt on him. We’ve tried dropping bunts on him. It irritates the crap out of him. He gets mad. His hat goes farther to the side.”
July 16, 2006: Sabathia: “This is Minnesota. They hate me here. But I don’t really care.”
May 16, 2007: Sabathia, after beating the Twins, tries to downplay the feud. “Everybody thinks about there being a lot of hate between Cleveland and Minnesota. But A.J. Pierzynski is with the White Sox now, so that stuff is long gone.”
Other notes: After looking at my microphone for a couple weeks but not doing anything about it, I’ve finally submitted a fresh podcast that should be up sometime this afternoon.
And it’s just been confirmed that I will fill in for Dan, `The Common Man,’ Cole from Noon-3 p.m. next Monday on KFAN. So we’ll make that an All-Star break special.
27 Responses to "C.C.? He gone! Plus programming notes."
The statement that he “…can throw his 290-pound body in the middle of Twins-Brewers interleague battles” is probably not correct. Milwaukee won’t be able to resign him - he is a rental for the rest of the season.
There is much better chance that we will face C.C. when he signs with an American League team in the off-season.
YES!! LaVelle can you be the permanent replacement for “Rock Bottom Radio” ???
Wobble, please, for the love of all that is good on sports radio, do not let “Dan from Woodbury” get his job back after you are done!
more secure future with KFAN then Star Tribune anyway… not saying just saying..
just think you could talk smack with PA every day and poke fun at his Viking takes that gush with optimism
C’mon rubes. If we get enough negative comments about Common he will read them on the air (he did this the last time he was on ‘vacation’). Leave it to him to turn negativity towards him into a ‘bit’.
May 15, 2007: Gardenhire, on bunting on Sabathia: “We always try to irri, I mean, bunt on him. We’ve tried dropping bunts on him. It irritates the crap out of him. He gets mad. His hat goes farther to the side.”
classic gardy comment. hilarious
Yep, CC should not be upset with Twins for trying to bunt on him..he should be upset with himself because he can’t field his position due to his heft.
I can only hope that Batgirl surfaces to bid adieu to Captain Cheeseburger.
On the plus side, Batgirl will no longer have to carry cheesburgers as a distraction in case CC comes to close to eating BabyDash…
For a bit of added fun, go back to the Batgirl website, see the 05/17/07 posting “Top Ten Reasons CC Sabathia Beaned Justin Morneau on Wednesday.” I’d copy and paste, but I don’t think everyone would appreciate all the verbage. Maybe not all of it family-friendly…
Pierzynski has a way bigger hate from Twins fans that Sabathia ever will. I can’t wait to see CC in the batters box, though. Especially after that 440 foot home run he launched. Yikes.
“Milwaukee won’t be able to resign him - he is a rental for the rest of the season.”
They’re in this deal for 2008 and then for the draft picks.
Also just in…
C.C. Sabathia has changed his name to CC Sabathia.
Yes. He’s officially dropped the periods in his name.
T, he must be moving on. He’s growing up…I’m proud of him.
Don’t count the Brewers out of the game just yet.
They have some power-hitters that would make any pitcher jealous. They play in a retractable roof stadium, that I admit is one of the nicer ones in the country, and they have a stacked minorleague. The team is definitly on the way up, and if C.C. actually likes to win, he wouldn’t do bad for his future to be a pitcher there. They are probably going to be losing Sheets, so maybe, just maybe they try to sign CC instead. If CC isn’t going to stick, I fully expect Prince to be moved this offseason then too, since if his heft keeps growing, well, he may just eat his way out of a huge contract(Prince that is, however, CC maybe too.)
Good for the Brewers. They have not made the playoffs since 1982? They are “going for it” with this trade. Will Bill Smith make the same decision by the end of the month? Who needs a “subway series” if we could have a “brats/lefsa” series? 
Lavelle, I would give a listen if you were in that time slot everyday. I don’t listen at all to the “common man”, and don’t understand the attraction for those that do. Same old, and I do mean old schtick from him. Plus, I cannot stand listening to ill-informed talk show hosts when they stray into subjects on which they clearly have not done their homework. Oh well, I’ll give you a listen Lavelle, and good luck.
Good luck on KFAN, La Velle!
I heard that about Prince Fielder as well. The guy just keeps getting larger and larger. And yeah he’s got pop…but during the Twins series with the Brew it looked like he was having a heck of a time getting the bat around.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player do so much to ruin his career in such a short amount of time.
Decent talk on KFAN next Mon with Common gone. Common is terrible and not worth my time. I quit listening - - You should too!
Here’s an outstanding lineup for the Twins 2009.
1. Gomez cf
2. Casilla 2b
3. Mauer c
4. Morneau 1b
5. Hughes 3b
6. Kubel dh
7. Young lf
8. Tolbert ss
9. Span rf
The Twins feeble display of hitting skills puts their ability to score runs against top teams in question. They go well against the teams that are not really very good, but cannot beat the top teams when it really counts. Gardenhire is mainly responsible for the defeats because he does not settle on a solid lineup. He always has to throw Punto into the mix, which ultimately costs the team wins.
Yeah, that triple by Punto last night was a real rally killer and undoubtedly cost the team the win.
Cuddyer, Hernandez, Punto, Bass and Bonser should be traded for bullpen help down the stretch !!!
I agree that Bonser, Bass, Hernandez, Cuddyer, and Punto should all be traded since they really do nothing to help the team win. Look at the stats.
I think Span, Liriano, Tolbert and Hughes are the only missing pieces to the Twins puzzle besides bullpen help.
walt-herb-kent,
Its nice that you “three” agree.
It would be more impressive if you weren’t just ONE mentally damaged person.
But at least you have a consensus of one.
