New York Post went too far with CC Sabathia's Yankees number retirement criticism

If you ever wanted an out-dated, misguided or straight up ignorant sports take, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post always delivers. The writing represents what the world would look like if society made zero advancements beyond whatever three generations ago established as the norm.

Over the weekend, Mushnick ran into the wrong subject to criticize. The longtime New York Post columnist penned 200 words of slosh for an audience trying to evoke a world that no longer exists. And hey, we're supposed to respect all dissenting discourse? Right? If you subscribe to that belief, then you're going to need more than a few paragraphs to state your point. The times haven't changed there.

Mushnick said "good enough" has become the new "great" and went on to cite everything that was rather unpleasant about Sabathia's tenure in New York, calling out the Yankees' decision to retire his number this season (Sept. 26).

It's no secret there were unflattering and troubling moments during Sabathia's 11-year stint in the Bronx. The left-hander fell off rather abruptly after his age-31 season in 2012 and then later battled with alcoholism that took him away from the team. So, yeah, it's a pretty low-hanging fruit argument to make if you mention Sabathia spending the back half of his career pitching to a ~4.50 ERA and mention the fact that he wasn't exactly a diplomatic presence (even we'll admit, he's unfiltered and isn't a buttoned-up presence).

And he proved that with his response to Mushnick's article on Twitter. Can't say Sabathia isn't classy now, can ya?!

Why CC Sabathia deserves to have his number retired by the Yankees in 2026

But all of that is exactly what made Sabathia great. He was imperfect. He represented the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. He was never afraid to speak his mind, rise to the occasion, back his teammates, fight through adversity, or reckon with the reality right in front of him.

In today's world, those characteristics are admirable because they don't really exist anymore. But if you're living in a hole surrounded by whatever reigned supreme in the 1970s and 1980s, of course you wouldn't realize that. So because Sabathia proved to be a flawed individual, hated opponents who bunted against him, and said a few cuss words, that invalidates the impact he had on the game?

Yankees fans get it. Plenty of Yankees haters question all of the number retirements. But it's easy to question it when you don't understand it. That's how strong and passionate the fandom is. And for Mushnick, it's easy to criticize when your idea of someone who should be immortalized can't deviate from a five-time (or more) World Series champion that represented the game in a completely different manner.

Sabathia is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He signed the largest contract for a starting pitcher in MLB history when he joined the Yanks. He delivered George Steinbrenner a World Series before he passed. He was among the best pitchers in the game (for the Yankees) from 2009-2012. He later rediscovered his form in his twilight and helped the 2017-2018 playoff teams, nearly achieving greatness in 2017. That's only what he did with the Yankees. Most of all, however, Sabathia is a Yankees fan, through and through.

And honestly? That's all you need to know. We don't live in an era where dynasties exist — unless you cheat, or unless you have an ownership group full of billionaires receiving ungodly amounts of money for their team's television deal. The same level of dominance Mushnick is referencing by mentioning Ruth, Mantle, DiMaggio, Ford, Berra, Howard, Rivera, Jeter, Dickey and Gehrig is irrelevant.

You know what Sabathia did? He helped lead the charge to prevent the Yankees from plunging into their longest championship drought in franchise history with that legendary 2009 run. And in the process, he was a relatable figure to a majority of Yankees fans, who are undoubtedly pleased that the big man is going to be living on forever in center field. Why is that dismissed when talking about retiring his No. 52?

Honestly, Sabathia's response to Mushnick should have the columnist re-thinking his stance. If this were 10 years ago, CC might've pressed "send" on an NSFW insult followed by "that one's for you, b-tch." Sounds like admirable progress to us.