Under The Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story

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- You don't get to control how things end.

That's just not the way life works.

Happily ever after?

That shit isn't guaranteed.

I mean, you work hard,

you'll get some nice things coming to you...

But it doesn't matter what you do.

You can't prevent the bad stuff from coming too.

For a long time,

I don't think I knew how to handle that reality.

That's where addiction came in.

And honestly, I almost blew it all.

To this day, I don't think people realize

how close I came to losing everything.

That's why I wanted to film some big parts

of the last year of my career in 2019,

to document the ending of that chapter in my life,

to try and show that

I can have my own kind of happily ever after

after everything I went through.

But then I kind of realized

the end of a story doesn't mean anything

if you don't know everything that came before it.

What a pitch.

- Brewers win! - Yeah!

CC has done it!

- Come on, C! - Go, C!

- You wanna know where it all started?

Dig, C, dig!

- Vallejo, California, my grandmother's backyard.

She had this big, old grapefruit tree,

and I'd go back there, pick up all these grapefruits,

and throw 'em at a folding chair.

The grapefruit was my baseball,

the chair was my strike zone,

the backyard was where I could dream

about everything in the world I could ever want.

I tell you, I never forgot what it felt like

to be in that backyard.

And looking back now,

I feel like my whole journey in life

was about getting back there:

Getting back to that yard and that tree

and how they made me feel.

It wasn't easy,

but I had to figure out a way home.

Perfect.

So let me remind you how it works.

After Priscilla takes pictures of your heart, starts slowly

and gets faster and steeper every three minutes.

All right,

so I'm gonna have you turn over on the left side.

Left arm up by your head.

This arm's gonna be down by your hip.

Gonna be a little cold. Just relax your hands.

- Everybody has these moments in their life

when it feels like

you're having an out-of-body experience.

Like, "Is this really me?"

One of my biggest came in December of 2018

when a doctor told me my heart was about to stop working.

Last set of pictures

and then we'll start the exercise.

Okay.

When I first came and I we were doing this,

it was--I was in pain.

Like, even doing this, I was in pain.

I didn't know what was happening

and if I was having a heart attack or what.

- You'll let us know how you feel, obviously.

If you get any chest pain, let us know.

But at the end, you'll just get tired.

But mostly a walking test.

At the end, maybe, you'll need to jog or anything.

- Then he threw up and then he was like,

"Babe, I'm having a heart attack,"

and of course, I laughed.

And I was like, "No, you're not.

Go to bed."

And then we flew home from California to New Jersey,

and that next morning was really bad.

- Remember I couldn't even walk to the gate, though.

- Yeah, and he said again, "I'm having a heart attack,"

and again, I'm like, "Oh, it's your stomach."

You know, "You're eating something."

So took about four weeks

to detect that it was actually his heart.

Come on over.

Again.

I know it's not easy.

Breathe in a little.

- All right, so good news. The stress test looks normal.

The heart looks great.

No issues at all,

so continuing to focus on the diet,

the exercise, the meds,

you should do well for a long time, all right?

Can we get this guy a glass of water?

Yeah, right?

CC deciding to retire,

I don't think it was anyone's decision.

I think it was just we all knew it was time,

and then when the heart situation happened,

it was almost like it's not even up for discussion anymore.

This is gonna be it.

It was just understood

that this is gonna be his last year.

There's some milestones that he needs to hit.

He's gonna hit 'em,

and we're just gonna really celebrate this last season,

season 19, as being, like,

celebrating all that he has done.

- So yeah, the last season of my baseball career

started out with me almost dying of a heart attack.

You did great.

Not the best omen, I guess.

And by the time I made it to the finish line,

I don't think anyone would call that

the ideal scenario, either.

- On the ground to first, and it scoots by LeMahieu.

With nobody out and they're at the corners.

Here comes Aaron Boone.

Yeah, and more boos sending Adam Ottavino to the dugouts.

6-3, Houston.

Threatening for more here in the 8th.

- Coming to a playoff game out of the bullpen,

down three runs, two guys on...

- Super-tough spot here for CC.

all: CC! CC! CC!

- But like I said, life isn't always gonna go

the way you think it's gonna go.

I learned that a long, long time ago...

kinda the hard way.

I grew up in a neighborhood in Vallejo called the Crest.

Most people would say it's infamous, but, um,

you know, it's where I grew up,

and for me, it was always a safe place.

You know, I had a big family.

I had my mom and my dad.

I'm a only child, but I have a lot of cousins

and always felt like I had brothers and sisters around.

Daddy, you want me to go back in?

- Yeah, go on out there, man. Don't be scared.

- The central hub of my family back then was in the Crest.

It was my grandmother's house. It's where I grew up.

My parents worked a lot, so that just became my home.

That was always, like, my central place that I can go

and I know that I can get a good meal

and get taken care of and just feel good.

Go, C, go, C, go, C!

Watch the ball, C, watch the ball!

Watch the ball, CC!

- Watch the ball, watch the ball, C!

That's it, baby!

C hit three doubles.

- Did he? - Yeah.

He could've had a homer, but he won't run.

- My father was a little league coach before I was born.

My dad, you know, earlier in my life, you know,

was never too tired to go play catch,

was never too tired to go throw me balls so I could hit.

- And coming out the dugout, Mr. CC Sabathia.

Yay!

Dig, C, dig!

- He put the love of sports in me

and kind of just gave me that passion

to go out and want to play hard.

- All right. - Yeah.

When I was 12, my parents split up.

Me and my mom moved out.

My dad, you know, I pretty much don't see him.

Off and on, you know,

maybe a couple of weekends here and there,

but as I got into high school...

you know, he didn't see me play,

you know, one high school baseball game.

He saw me play one high school football game

and no basketball games.

- Oh, that's the insurance that we needed.

Help yourself, baby. Good shuffle, CC.

That was fantastic.

Hey, brother.

Right on, brother.

Not having my dad around

was definitely a hardship to deal with.

But the women in my life were always there for me--

my mom and my grandmother.

And then, of course, Amber, too.

We started out as just friends, actually.

But eventually, we got together.

So the love story part of our life

might've needed a few years to take off,

but by the time I was a senior in high school,

there was no question I had a future in baseball.

Indians select Sabathia,

S-A-B-A-T-H-I-A, Carsten C.

- Welcome to Cleveland. - Thank you.

A month ago, I was in high school,