CC Sabathia’s connection with Gerrit Cole goes back much further than Cole taking over for Sabathia as the Yankees ace following the 2019 season, when Sabathia retired and Cole signed his huge deal to come to The Bronx.
The pitchers met for the first time in 2008 near the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, Calif., when they had lunch near where Sabathia was staying with Cleveland.
Cole, who had been a star at nearby Orange Lutheran HS, was in the market for an agent and Sabathia talked to the young right-hander about the process.
“We talked for a long time,’’ Sabathia said by phone. “It was a cool conversation. I said to myself afterwards, ‘This kid is gonna be good.’ I could tell he was serious about the game.”
Cole was selected by the Yankees in the first round — 28th overall — that year but opted to attend UCLA instead.
“Meeting him meant a lot to me,’’ Cole said. “We kept in touch after that.”
That included after Cole became the top overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Pirates and throughout his time in Pittsburgh and Houston.
And during Sabathia’s final season in 2019, the lefty was invited with his family to the All-Star Game, which was being held at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Cole, in his second and last year with the Astros, made the AL All-Star team but didn’t appear in the game.
The pair connected in the outfield during the Home Run Derby, and Sabathia — who left the Brewers to sign his first megadeal with the Yankees ahead of the 2009 season — told Cole what’s unique about pitching in The Bronx.
“I told him about New York and that the No. 1 thing about playing there is that there’s no place like it to win,’’ Sabathia said. “I would express that to anybody who has a chance to come to the Yankees: That it’s cool to win anyplace, but if you win in The Bronx, it’s forever. It’s about the guys that came before you.”
Sabathia guided the Yankees to their 27th title in his first year with the team: “Other than getting married and my kids being born, it’s the highlight of my life. I wanted to convey to him that, ‘Yeah, you can go to Anaheim and play at home, but if you do it in The Bronx, people remember that forever.’”
Not that Cole, a lifelong Yankee fan despite his southern California roots, needed much convincing from Sabathia, who grew up in northern California and now works in the MLB Commissioner’s office.
“I got a lot of information through osmosis from him of what it’s like playing for the Yankees,” Cole said. “He emphasized that the organization tries to win every year. I hadn’t made the playoffs much in Pittsburgh and knew how important it was to be in a winning situation. That’s one of the big reasons I came here, besides my love of the Yankees — trying to win it all.”
That hasn’t happened in Cole’s first four seasons in New York since signing a nine-year, $324 million deal in December 2019.
He nearly got there with the Astros in that ’19 season, but Houston blew a late lead to Juan Soto and the Nationals in Game 7 as Howie Kendrick hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh.
Cole got to the ALCS with the Yankees two years ago but fell short to Houston and missed the postseason last year.
The 34-year-old has been in his best form of the season of late after being sidelined with elbow inflammation for the first half of the year.
He closed the regular season with back-to-back dominant starts and pitched well in four of his final five outings.
Now, he looks to continue that into October, ideally leading to a World Series ring.
“That’s been No. 1 on the list for a long time: Chasing that down,’’ Cole said. “Making the run all that way in 2019 and not closing it out was tough. I look forward to the opportunity to try it again. It’s not the only thing left for me to do, but it’s the most important thing.”
