CC Sabathia is an East Bay guy, but he almost ended up on the other side of the Bay Bridge.
Growing up in Vallejo, Sabathia was an A's fan. But as he was getting closer to the draft process, he grew more and more fond of the Giants.
"I grew up an A's fan, but for some reason in high school, I had it in my head the Giants were going to draft me," Sabathia told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. "So I always wanted to pitch for the Giants after that. I never really got any letters or any kind of looks from the A's, so after about the 10th grade, it was always the Giants."
As it turned out, San Francisco passed on Sabathia in favor of another local prospect, Woodland's Tony Torcato.
Think the Giants regret that one?
San Francisco had a second chance to put Sabathia in a Giants uniform when he became a free agent in 2008, and they almost pulled it off, if not for the deep-pocketed Yankees.
"We were close to negotiating terms," Sabathia said of the contract talks with the Giants. "It would've been cool, yeah, but this is the best thing for me, to be able to come to New York, have a chance to win every year. Being in the pinstripes is a lot of fun. It's my dad's dream, so I'm glad I got a chance to live it out."
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Sabathia would go on to win a World Series with the Bronx Bombers in 2009. A year later, San Francisco won the first of its three consecutive even-year World Series title.
So, clearly, things worked out just fine for both sides. But it does make you wonder what they could have accomplished together.
