TAMPA, Fla. — A black-gloved salute by the 1968 Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos this was not. Nor was it as nearly as weighty as quarterback Colin Kaepernick taking a knee.
But when the Yankees’ C. C. Sabathia took the mound Tuesday for his spring training debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, he did so with an air of defiance that was plain to see. In fact, it was all over his face.