Yankees' Legend Helped Recruit Gerrit Cole to New York

A New York Yankees icon played a major part in convincing Gerrit Cole to come to the Bronx in 2019.

Sep 26, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) waves to fans after defeating the Baltimore Orioles to clinch the American League East title at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

While he hasn't earned a World Series ring in New York (yet), Gerrit Cole's tenure as the New York Yankees ace has still been a success.

Heading into Saturday's ALDS game against the Kansas City Royals, Cole has amassed a 4-2 record with a 3.40 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 7 postseason appearances for New York. And the 2023 AL Cy Young award he won shows how effective he has been in the Bronx during the regular season.

But what many Yankees fans don't know is that New York legend CC Sabathia helped sell Cole on his beloved team back when Cole was pitching for the Houston Astros, which is illustrated by an October 3 article from the New York Post's Dan Martin.

"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," Martin wrote, after talking about the initial bond made between Cole and Sabathia while Cole was still high school, and Sabathia spoke to him about the process of securing an agent.

"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," he continued.

“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 in the article. “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.”

When Cole was asked about the connection between him and Sabathia, he said, “I got a lot of information through osmosis from him of what it’s like playing for the Yankees. 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.”

Now Cole in the midst of bringing the World Series back to the Yankees for the first time since 2009.