C.C. Sabathia owes fans some consideration Fanfare:

C.C. Sabathia owes
fans some consideration
Fanfare:

When I read the sports page of the Feb. 20 edition of The Vindicator I nearly broke into tears when I learned that poor C.C. Sabathia is losing sleep over the stalled contract talks between his agent and the front office of my Cleveland Indians.

I nearly wanted to renew my narcotics license and send him a prescription in order that he might get a decent, restful night of sleep.

That unfortunate pitcher who works every five days for three or four hours will only get $11.2 million this season. At an average of 30 games he will work at most 120 hours. That’s $37,333 per hour. He is holding out for a six-year, $137.5 million contract. That computes to $22.9 million per year and $76,333 per hour.

When Cleveland Indians fans throughout Ohio are losing their jobs and retired workers are seeing 30 percent of their retirement funds melting away in the recent hits on Wall Street, he should be utterly ashamed of the greed he is showing.

Who does he think pays that salary? It’s not the front office: It’s the fan base that goes to Jacobs Field to see the Indians play 81 games every year. The fans who can no longer afford the ticket or food vendor prices.

C.C. had a chance to send my Indians to the World Series last year when they faced the Boston Red Sox at home. He failed to do so. He is the ace we depended upon and he let us down.

He should be willing to keep his salary at what he obviously considers to be a minimum wage level of $11.2 million a year until he manages to get us to the series and win the October festival we’ve all been waiting for since 1948.

If he continues to whine about money, I would send him packing in the mid-season, before he becomes a free agent at the end of the 2008 season, while he is still worth a trade or two that can help us get to the gold ring once again.

C.C. began his career here at Cafaro Field and the fans packed the stadium. He should remember where he came from and the fans that supported him while in the minor leagues.

Charles H. McGowen, MD

Howland