On Tuesday night, CC Sabathia became a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is a well-earned honor for one of the greatest pitchers of his generation, a player who has served as a bridge not only between baseball generations but between the sport and the community. As one of the greatest pitchers in Yankees history, there could and should be more honors on the horizon.

Sabathia played 11 seasons for the Yankees after initially signing a seven-year, $161 million contract — the largest at the time for a left-handed pitcher. He immediately delivered on the lofty expectations that come with such a pact, becoming the team’s ace and winning the 2009 ALCS MVP as the Yankees won their 27th title in his debut season. He was a two-time MLB wins leader and three-time All-Star in his pinstriped tenure, finishing fourth in franchise history in strikeouts and 10th in wins while also becoming the 15th pitcher in history with at least 3,000 strikeouts and 250 wins.

However, perhaps CC’s most enduring legacy to the organization was the strength of his character. He overcame alcoholism and a degenerative knee injury to open a second act in his Yankees career, allowing him the longevity to hit the milestones that aided his Hall of Fame case. He constantly evolved and was always looking to learn even as an established veteran, absorbing wisdom passed on by Andy Pettitte to rediscover success before passing it along to the next generation of Yankees pitchers. He always stood up for his teammates on the field and championed them off it, bringing unparalleled leadership to the clubhouse at a time of transition in the organization from one era to the next.

Sabathia was a Yankee through and through, “embod[ying] the best of what it means to be a Yankee,” according to owner Hal Steinbrenner. When asked which team’s cap he would would wear on his Cooperstown plaque, there was only ever one answer — the Yankees — despite Cleveland inducting him into their Hall of Fame and naming a youth baseball field after the pitcher who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award in their organization.

“This is home,” Sabathia said on Tuesday of New York. “I found a home in the Bronx. I don’t think I’ll ever leave this city.”

The question now is how the Yankees will reciprocate the endeavors of a pitcher who literally left it all out on the field and gave everything to the organization. Enshrinement in Monument Park feels close to a forgone conclusion, especially given his popularity. His longevity with the team, his place near the top of several lists in the organizational record book, and his universal admiration among former teammates, opponents, and the fanbase align with those already honored with plaques in Monument Park.

While representing the Yankees on one’s Hall of Fame plaque does not guarantee entrance to Monument Park — just ask Tony Lazzeri, Herb Pennock, Earle Combs, Joe Gordon, Waite Hoyt, and Jack Chesbro — it’s certainly a good starting point. What’s more, Sabathia becomes the 12th first-ballot Hall of Famer to have played for the Yankees (13 if you count Lou Gehrig, quickly inducted via special election upon his medically-forced retirement), and all those who played for the organization for at least six years is in Monument Park except for Dave Winfield, who has a Padres cap in Cooperstown. Winfield is one of several players who probably should have Monument Park plaques as well, but there’s no question that CC would fit right in.

The trickier question is whether the Yankees will retire Sabathia’s No. 52. Twenty-two men have had their number retired, the most recent being Paul O’Neill in 2022 and the most recent pitcher being CC’s close friend, Pettitte, in 2015. In all, only four pitchers have had their number retired by the organization — Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Whitey Ford, and Ron Guidry. The question is how Sabathia’s Yankees tenure stacks up with that quartet.

Again, Hall of Fame enshrinement does not guarantee that the Yankees will retire one’s number. Just on the pitching side, Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing, and Goose Gossage are all in Cooperstown and Monument Park but did not get their numbers retired. Each of those men won at least as many rings as Sabathia — Gomez and Ruffing many more — but Sabathia has put himself close to if not within several inner circles with the counting stats he was able to achieve.

There is no firm criteria for number retirement. The more World Series you win the better your shot, so that is something working against Sabathia’s favor when you think of the many pitchers in Monument Park who own more rings. Longevity certainly helps and 11 years in the organization helps Sabathia’s case. Association with a foundational narrative in Yankees lore appears to be a factor — think “Mr. October” for Reggie Jackson and 61 for Roger Maris, neither of whom spent that long with the team but won back-to-back titles — and unfortunately Sabathia does not quite occupy that kind of space in the lore. More recently, fan opinion seemed to play a role in O’Neill’s number finally being retired, and like O’Neill, the Yankee have not issued No. 52 since Sabathia’s retirement.

I think the two best analogs when examining Sabathia’s case would be Guidry and O’Neill. Guidry won only one more title than Sabathia and they are fairly comparable when it comes to organizational milestones like games started, wins, and strikeouts. However, Guidry played his whole career for the Yankees while some of Sabathia’s best and most dominant career moments came before donning the pinstripes. As for O’Neill, both he and Sabathia joined the organization at similar points in their careers and would retire with the team. However, while Sabathia is in far more elite company in MLB history than O’Neill and is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, O’Neill won four titles with the team to Sabathia’s one.

Taking all this into consideration, I think Sabathia is a near-lock for Monument Park and has an outside shot at having in his number retired with No. 52 already out of circulation. It will be an intriguing decision to follow in the coming years, with many of the factors favoring such an honor getting balanced out by those that hurt his case e.g., first-ballot Hall of Famer vs. just one World Series win. Regardless, Sabathia will live on for eternity in the halls of Cooperstown and in the memories of Yankees fans lucky enough to watch him pitch.