CC Sabathia

CC Sabathia originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

While CC Sabathia retired from Major League Baseball in 2019, the first-ballot Hall of Famer remains closely tied to the game.

The New York Yankees legend, who started working with Commissioner Rob Manfred in 2022, acts as a liaison between players and the league.

While in Atlanta for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game this week, Sabathia wore many hats. In addition to being a brand ambassador for Mastercard, a major sponsor of the Midsummer Classic, he also participated in the 24th annual All-Star Celebrity Softball Game, where he had his own "priceless" moment.

While the six-time All-Star will be enshrined in Cooperstown due to his work on the mound, he won the MVP Award after launching a monster home run during the American League team's softball win.

Sabathia, however, was happy to return to the stands to watch the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game, the latter of which ended with a National League win following a historic Home Run Swing-Off in lieu of a 10th inning.

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, I asked Sabathia which team he believes will win the 2025 World Series. "Man, I think the Dodgers are obviously a very good team if they can get healthy. So I'll have to go with them in the National League right now.

"And then the Yankees, they need some bullpen help. They need a third baseman. But I do think if the Tigers can make some moves and get some bull pen help with [Tarik] Skubal, they can give the Yankees a run. So, I’m going to go Tigers right now."

So, if it all comes down to the Dodgers, the 2024 World Series Champions, against Tigers in this October -- who wins?

"Dodgers," Sabathia answered. "Back to back."

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.