At the top, of course, are these: positive thoughts and hopeful vibes for CC Sabathia, who has long been everything you ever want a give-me-the-ball gamer to be, and who now makes as difficult a choice as a human life allows.
Anyone who has known someone affected by the scourge of addiction — alcohol, drugs, gambling, any of it — understands the courage Sabathia displayed Monday, announcing he was headed to rehab rather than the baseball playoffs alongside the rest of his Yankee teammates.
“It hurts me deeply to do this now,” Sabathia said in a statement released by the club, “but I owe it to myself and to my family to get myself right.