CC Sabathia once displayed vulnerability over losing out on 2017 World Series because of Astros' cheating: "I f**king cried like a baby"

The 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal shook the entire MLB. Many baseball fans and players got disheartened, including former New York Yankees star CC Sabathia.

He once admitted that he was heartbroken and angry by the incident. Sabathia also claimed that they did not deserve the World Series win and had "robbed" New York Yankees of a championship.

Speaking of it in 2020, Sabathia said:

“I felt that s**t,’’ said Sabathia. I f**king cried like a baby. We all felt that s**t. So it ain’t no way you can ever tell me…forever in my mind, now, we won the World Series.”

Sabathia also said that he was confident about the win if the Astros cheating scandal didn't happen:

“F**king ’17, we should have won the World Series. I don’t care what nobody says. And now that this happened, nobody can ever f**king tell me that we wasn’t gonna win it. We should have won! There’s no way you can tell me we weren’t better than them. I don’t give a f**k what nobody says.”

The Yankees lost to the Astros both in the 2017 and 2019 ALCS. In the 2018 ALDS, they fell to the Boston Red Sox, who were accused of illegally stealing signs from their replay room.

CC Sabathia on Astros' punishment: "Vacate it"

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred fined the Astros $5 million, docked them four drafts selections and put manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow on a one-year suspension following an inquiry into the team's unlawful sign-stealing.

CC Sabathia said that the Astros' punishment should have been more severe by depriving them of the championship they won.

“Maybe, yeah. I mean, why not?'' Sabathia said. "Vacate it. I wouldn’t be mad at that.”

In 2001, Sabathia made his major league debut with the Indians, and he finished second behind 2001 AL MVP Ichiro Suzuki in the voting for AL Rookie of the Year.

Chicago Cubs v Milwaukee Brewers

The Indians were CC Sabathia's team for the first seven and a half years of his career, during which he earned the 2007 Cy Young Award.