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Sabathia says he realized in 2012 he was an alcoholic

New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia first realized three years ago he was an alcoholic.

Sabathia left the team for treatment ahead of its loss to Houston in the one-game AL wild-card playoff and went public with his problem.

"In 2012, I kind of came to the realization I was an alcoholic, and I was kind of battling it without any help," he told ABC in an interview broadcast Friday, his first remarks to media since treatment.

"I would go a couple, you know, two, three months at a time sober, and then I would just relapse, and, you know, go on these weekends when I thought nobody was paying attention, and I would get in a hotel room and drink out of the minibar, pretty much everything.