The words “trade” and “CC Sabathia” aren’t something that battle-weary Yankees fans want to hear at any time soon, but both came up in the same sentence last week, albeit for a good cause, not for a way to improve New York’s chances of returning to the playoffs next year.
The cause was Bloomberg Tradebook’s second annual “Trade It Forward” day, where celebrities came to the world headquarters of the leading company in financial analysis to talk to clients (via phone and live Bloomberg Chat service) and mix elbows with staff. What did celebs like Sabathia, Chris Noth and even P.Diddy get out of the time? A chance to raise substantial dollars for their designated charity.
Sabathia was joined by his wife and charity co-chair Amber, marketing rep Russ Spielman of The Legacy Agency and the heads of Weinstein Carnegie Sports and Entertainment to raise awareness for The “Pitcchin In” Foundation, which goes to help inner city children with education and leadership programs. The Tradebook Day will be followed by having team in the ING NYC Marathon and then a scavenger hunt on November 9 in Central Park, three key offseason events for the group.
For Sabathia, who wore a blue trading jacket for his time on the trading floor, the day was all about community outreach and awareness.
“It is great that the people at Bloomberg take the time to do this event, and we are excited to be involved,” he said. “Events like this, where we can interact with the public and raise money for our foundation, are priceless, and it’s the least we can do to give back to those who support the team all year round.”
While the amount raised wasn’t available yet, the impact events like this have is immeasurable in terms of awareness in the community, and go a long way in helping fans ease the pain of a fall without baseball in New York.
“I would certainly rather be playing,” he added. “But if we can take the time in the offseason to help better the lives of those less fortunate, our work still has great meaning.”
Those thoughts are certainly appreciated by Yankee fans for this season, but for 2014, they would prefer seeing him and his teammates on the field in October raising a banner, and taking November and December to raise funds for charity. However for this year, the community work the Sabathia’s are turning in is certainly All-Star quality.