Why CC Sabathia will have my Hall of Fame vote

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Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia notched his 3,000th career strikeout in his team’s 3-1 loss to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Tuesday night. He became the 17th pitcher in MLB history to reach that threshold. Of the other 16, 14 are in the Hall of Fame, one is Roger Clemens, and one is Curt Schilling. So by that standard, maybe Sabathia’s a shoo-in already and all I’m doing is building up a strawman here.

But the way we evaluate baseball players has changed a lot in recent seasons, and before Sabathia becomes eligible for Cooperstown, as many as four other pitchers could reach the 3,000 strikeout plateau. Maybe even five, if Clayton Kershaw can stay healthy. Hitters currently strike out at unprecedented rates, so fanning 3,000 now is quite a bit different than doing it when Walter Johnson did it or even when Bob Gibson did it.

I’ll have a vote by the time Sabathia becomes eligible and I plan on giving him one. And when I tweeted my endorsement for Sabathia’s case before his start Tuesday, at least a couple of people replied that they see him more as “a compiler” than a true Hall of Famer. Mike Mussina, who didn’t strike out quite as many as Sabathia but otherwise finished with similar or better numbers across the board, lingered on the ballot for six years before getting elected in January.

Sabathia’s 63.1 career WAR makes him a borderline case for Cooperstown. He was an instantly recognizable presence on the mound throughout his career, which should help. He demonstrated great physical strength early in his big-league tenure, when he could gas out opponents with high-90s heat, then great mental strength in his late 30s, when he adjusted to the loss of his velocity and found success as an entirely different type of pitcher. He stared down constant criticism and concern over his physique, spoke out against the racism that still plagues the sport in some corners, and bravely went public with his battle against alcoholism.

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)

But for me, what puts Sabathia over the edge — if he’s even on there — for Cooperstown is his performance for the Brewers in 2008, which stands to this day as one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen a baseball player do. In early July of that year, the Indians traded Sabathia to Milwaukee for a package of young players. It was a pure rental deal: Sabathia was bound for free agency after the season and the Brewers were in the wild-card hunt, but everyone knew they would not have the money to re-sign him.

Sabathia made 17 starts for Milwaukee that season and went 11-2 with a 1.62 ERA. He threw seven complete games and three shutouts in that span — enough to lead the National League in both categories even though he was only in the circuit for half the season — and even hit pretty well in his lone career NL stint. And, most amazingly, Sabathia made his final three starts in the regular season on three days’ rest and yielded a 0.83 ERA in them. On the last day of the season, in his third consecutive start on short rest, for a team he joined a few months earlier and would not be a part of a few months later, Sabathia allowed one unearned run over nine innings to clinch the wild card for Milwaukee.

It’s funny: I love home runs so much, but when I think back on the most impressive feats I’ve witnessed from baseball players, most of them are displays of great pitching durability: Sabathia’s 2008 run; Johan Santana’s short-rest three-hit shutout to keep the Mets’ season alive in Game 161 that same year; Madison Bumgarner’s Game 7 relief outing in 2014; Nolan Ryan throwing a 16-strikeout no-hitter at age 44.

And Sabathia’s performance that year especially stands out as awesome because he did it for a team in which he had no vested long-term interest. No one could have reasonably blamed Sabathia if he just kept pitching on regular rest that year, seeing as it’s all the Brewers could’ve reasonably asked of him, and taking on the extra workload undoubtedly increased the risk of an injury that would’ve cost him tens of millions of dollars. But the dude was so much about winning that he made three straight starts on short rest for a team he’d never played for before and would never play for again. That’s Hall of Fame stuff, in my eyes.

Tuesday’s big winner: D.K. Metcalf

(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

New Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf became a viral sensation in the days leading up to the NFL Draft thanks to a physique that would make a Greek god feel deeply insecure. On the advice of a scout, Metcalf walked into his his pre-draft interview with Pete Carroll while shirtless, prompting the 67-year-old Carroll to remove his shirt in turn. He shared more of the story with our Henry McKenna on Tuesday. This guy should burn all his shirts and never wear one again.

Quick hits: Carter, fast food, hockey flops

– Vince Carter announced that he’ll return to the NBA for a 22nd season next year. He is undoubtedly the only active athlete I can remember talking about with my friends in high school. Carter is also responsible for the coolest dunk in basketball history, which the French call “le dunk de la morte,” — the dunk of death. THE DUNK OF DEATH!

– The national champion Baylor women’s basketball team visited Donald Trump at the White House and got treated to the same fast-food feast as previous NCAA champions making the trip. Baylor star Kalani Brown seemed unimpressed, and coach Kim Mulkey appeared full-on disgusted. I’ll stand by my guess that Trump does this because he loves fast food himself and sees dining with college kids — any college kids, even elite athletes — as a good excuse to do so.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

– Look at this floppity flopping flopper. My feelings on flopping are well-documented at this point, but this one’s on another level. Have you no pride, Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell? Is this why you started playing hockey?

Weird sport Wednesday: Hobbyhorsing

Few countries produce weird sports as frequently or as convincingly as Finland, where hobbyhorsing is a big thing. Especially popular among teenage girls, the sport is basically equestrian events but performed on a hobby horse. Here’s a deep dive into the pursuit, from OZY.com.