Every athlete’s journey to the Hall of Fame includes a few stumbles. For as great as the legends of the game perform, no player is immune to adversity. Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick, Michael Jordan got cut from his varsity team in high school and Joe Mauer had his career cut short by multiple injuries.
The good outweighed the bad for CC Sabathia over his 19-year MLB career, resulting in the lefty getting inducted in the MLB Hall of Fame as a member of its 2025 class. But life had one more challenge to throw in front of Sabathia before his journey — literally — ended.
While making the trek to Cooperstown ahead of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony over the weekend, Sabathia’s car broke down. The tall lefty and his family were looking for a ride on the way to the event.
They found one. Sabathia later tweeted that he made it to Cooperstown and thanked all his followers for actually offering up rides.
Sabathia did not reveal how he and his family made it to their destination. Given his comments, it doesn’t seem likely he took up any fans on the offer.
Now that Sabathia has arrived, the Hall of Fame ceremony can get underway. Sabathia is one of five players who will be inducted in the class of 2025. That list includes Dick Allen, Dave Parker, Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner.
Coming into the voting, Sabathia’s induction was no guarantee. While he won a Cy Young and was a World Series champion, he made just six All-Star teams. Voters believed Sabathia deserved better over his career, electing him in his first year of eligibility. He received 86.8 percent of the vote. Wagner had a much longer wait, not making the Hall of Fame until his 10th and final year on the ballot.
Both men, along with Suzuki, will make speeches at the MLB Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday. Parker’s son David will read Parker’s speech after the outfielder died in June. Allen’s son, Richard Jr., will read a speech for his father, who died in 2020.
The MLB Hall of Fame induction ceremony is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. It will be aired on MLB Network, MLB.TV, MLB.com and the MLB App. It can also be streamed at the Hall of Fame’s website.
