Baseball legend’s insane body transformation after heart scare, alcoholism battle

Some retired athletes let themselves go in retirement but one American sports legend is looking more jacked than he ever did during his career.

CC Sabathia has turned his life around. Photo: Getty Images and Twitter

Former Major League Baseball star CC Sabathia has turned his life around and become ripped to shreds after his career finished.

Sabathia played 19 years in the MLB, starting as a 20 years old for the Cleveland Indians, before a short stop at the Milwaukee Brewers and finishing with more than a decade at the New York Yankees.

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A six-time All-Star and 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner, Sabathia was never really a ripped champion many people associate with an elite athlete.

In 2011, his third year with the New York Yankees, he weighed in at 142kg with a body mass index that rated him as “morbidly obese”.

But in June, he revealed via Men’s Health that he always wanted to shed all his weight when he retired from baseball.

CC Sabathia is so jacked now that it looks like he’s about to explode pic.twitter.com/6im4aBfdb7

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) November 29, 2021

The 39-year-old Sabathia spent much of his final years in New York battling a recurring knee injury and started working on his weight in 2014.

In 2018 he went to a vegan diet after knee surgery and came back for his final season after dealing with a blocked artery.

But the former Yankees pitcher also opened up about his battle with alcohol that plagued him throughout his career.

Speaking with the Page Six, Sabathia spoke about his role with myrelationshipwithalcohol.com, having just celebrated six years of sobriety.

He only shook the alcoholism in 2015 after he checked into rehab as his team played in the final series of the season.

The Yankees did make the playoffs in 2015 but were knocked out in the Wild Card game to Houston.

And Sabathia said it hasn’t been easy.

“Recovery is an everyday struggle. It’s something we go through every day being alcohol dependent,” he told Page Six.

“But I feel like I can help people and try to steer you in the right direction (with) this website.”

Sabathia has turned his life around. Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images/AFP

Sabathia said he turned to alcohol after he signed a $161 million deal with the Yankees in 2008.

But he added he had many low points including ruining holidays and Christmases.

“It’s definitely really hard to play a professional sport,” he explained.

“There’s always those stresses, but I played the game sober and I played it while I was drinking. I was much more enjoyable while I was sober.

“(I’d) enjoy my teammates, wake up early in the morning and enjoy the city that I was travelling to, but I was drinking early in my career. I’d be drinking all night, up all night and I’d wake up in just enough time to get to the bus.

“I never got to see all the cities that I got to play in. When I came out of rehab, I made a point to enjoy every road trip and enjoy my teammates and enjoy the cities I got to travel to.”

Now 41 and retired, Sabathia is giving back to the community.

“Once you take that first step there’s so many different avenues and so many different things that you can do.

“I meet people every day and they tell me they’re 10 years sober, 13 years sober, 10 days sober. I’m happy when people come up and say that, it inspires me to keep going too.”

The communities that raise us have made me who I am today. I’m proud to continue the work with @PitCChInFdn & @PlayersAlliance to enrich inner city youth & provide the resources to connect with the game of baseball. Thank you @jumpman23 for the commitment on Giving Tuesday 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/qOjgjq26Jj

— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) November 30, 2021