Cleveland baseball great CC Sabathia hosts youth baseball camp

CC Sabathia’s baseball career speaks for itself. Over 3,000 strikeouts, a Cy Young Award, a World Series championship, and a first-ballot nod into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That remarkable career started in Cleveland, a city he has never lost touch with.

Tuesday morning, Sabathia and his PitCCh In Foundation hosted their fourth annual Baseball ProCamp. The free clinic allowed young local ballplayers to enjoy a day on the diamond with one of the best pitchers who has come through Cleveland.

"I got here, I was 17 years old, and I left here a man. I got here a boy, and left here a man, and always felt obligated to be able to come back and give back,” Sabathia said at the baseball field that bears his name in Luke Easter Park. “It's always fun to have a chance to have an impact on the community.”

That same community is where Sabathia forged his Hall of Fame career.

"I always feel like I grew up here, and I feel like our foundation was started here. [My wife] Amber and I had three of our four kids here. But to see us, you know, still continue to do work in this community with our foundation means a lot to us.”

The feeling is mutual between Sabathia and the Guardians organization.

"It's a first-ballot Hall of Famer that just comes back and still gives [back to the] community,” Cleveland Guardians minority owner Matt Kaulig said. “He doesn't have to, but ... he goes all over, really all over the country, to places that have meant something to him and his family, and gives back to the kids.”

Sabathia impacted the game of baseball in his 19 seasons. Now, he hopes that camps like these can inspire the next generation.

"When I was a kid, getting a chance to meet Dave Stewart changed my life at nine years old. If one of these kids can get that from us being out here, it's all worth it to me.”