Correspondent photo / Steve Ruman Carsten Sabathia holds up a Scrappers nesting doll of his dad, C.C. Sabathia, prior to Tuesday’s Scrappers-Trenton Thunder game at Eastwood Field.

NILES — Twenty-six years ago this month, 18-year-old C.C. Sabathia became an instant legend in the Mahoning Valley. In 1998, Sabathia was a first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Indians, and in ’99 he was the first big-name player for the Scrappers in what was their inaugural season in the Mahoning Valley.

Sabathia went on to pitch in the majors from 2001-19. He won 251 games and was a member of the New York Yankees’ 2009 World Series championship team. Earlier this year Sabathia was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted into the Hall on July 27.

Over the years, the Scrappers have recognized Sabathia with specialty jerseys, bobbleheads, posters, trading cards and nesting dolls. On July 26, the Scrappers will host C.C. Sabathia Appreciation Night.

On Tuesday, 21-year-old C.C. Sabathia made his Eastwood Field debut.

C.C. Sabathia III – better known as Carsten Sabathia – is an infielder with the Trenton Thunder. Carsten Sabathia is the oldest of four children by C.C. and his wife, Amber.

The Thunder play the Scrappers in a three-game series, which concludes on Thursday.

“When my dad found out I was coming to play in the Mahoning Valley, he smiled and immediately told me about his time here,” Carsten Sabathia said. “It’s kind of surreal to think that he pitched here all those years ago before I was even born. Now here I am, playing in the same place where he was at during the very start of his pro career.

Carsten Sabathia is a 2022 graduate of Bergen Catholic High School, where he was an All-American. In ’22 he was rated as the No. 3 third baseman in the country by Perfect Game. He was also the top first baseman and the No. 4 prospect overall out of the state of New Jersey.

Carsten Sabathia spent his first two years of college at Georgia Tech. He then transferred to the University of Houston, where he recently completed his junior year.

“Lot’s of ups and downs, but the biggest thing my dad taught me over the years was to take things one day at a time,” Carsten Sabathia said. “He never talked to me about my success or failures. It was always about not getting too high following a good game and not getting down following a bad game.

“My dad never pushed baseball on me. He was never once that baseball dad that wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I just fell in love with the game for as long as I can remember.”

Carsten Sabathia says he first realized that his dad “did something special” when the two were in a car driving through Cleveland.

“I asked him what he did and he was like, ‘I play baseball, you know that,'” Carsten Sabathia said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, but what do you do to make money.?’ He just kind of laughed. I mean, to me he wasn’t a baseball star, he was just my dad.”

In his early years, Carsten grew up in the Indians’ clubhouse. He recalls Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee as “great players and even better guys.” He says that Guardians mascot Slider (who was a guest at Carsten’s fourth birthday) “is still my guy.”

“I don’t have vivid memories of those Indians teams, but I just remember that team being so fun to be around, they were so fun to watch,” Carsten Sabathia said.

The younger Sabathia spent the better part of his youth in the Yankees clubhouse. From Derek Jeter to Aaron Judge, Yankees legends helped mold his baseball future.

“Looking back, it wasn’t the games and it wasn’t the big games that I most remember about my time around all those great players,” Carsten Sabathia said. “Even at a young age I really paid attention to what happened behind the scenes.

“I was always interested to see the superstars working in the batting cage at noon. Infield practice isn’t something I necessarily wanted to do as a young kid, but then I’d see Robbie (Cano) out there working his butt off every day, and I paid attention to what he was doing and I tried to implement it into my game.”

For a time, Carsten Sabathia followed in his dad’s pitching footsteps. He says that he pitched so much that he had to stop as a 12-year-old to allow his arm to rest. During that period he evolved into a first baseman while focusing on his offense.

“I love playing the field, I absolutely love hitting the ball,” Carsten Sabathia said. “I tell my dad now, I could never be a pitcher. I couldn’t play just every five days. I want to be on the field every day possible.”

Carsten Sabathia will be with Trenton through the first half of the MLB Draft League season. He plans on returning to Houston next fall, but not before a trip to Cooperstown in July to watch his father’s Hall of Fame induction.

“It’s going to be quite emotional, he’s the greatest,” Carsten Sabathia said.

For now, Carsten Sabathia hopes that, like his dad, his baseball path will take him from Eastwood Field to the Big Leagues.

“It’s always been my goal to play pro ball,” Carsten Sabathia said. “I’m just taking things one day at a time and I’m enjoying the journey every step of the way.”