Spring Training is coming to a close and the Yankees will be moving on up to the Bronx. The player’s lockers will soon be filled with jerseys, hats and helmets. Life will have to move on post Derek Jeter, and this starts with CC Sabathia taking the Captain’s former digs – according to Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal
It fell on Rob and Lou Cucuzza, who manage the clubhouse, to figure out who would get the prime real estate that is Jete’s old locker. They approached the most senior veterans: Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira and Sabathia, before the big guy decided to take it
“Everybody’s making a big deal about the Derek locker. I mean, I know, it’s important to the fans,” Cucuzza said. “But I don’t think we need to designate it, ‘the locker.'”
Sabathia doesn’t seem to think anything of it either. When he was asked if there was anything prestigious about it he said, “No. I mean, it’s just a locker.”
“That is prime real estate right there,” Brian McCann joked.
The move has had a domino effect on locker placement. Lockers have been shifting around left and right for the first time since the move to the new stadium in 2009. “Guys have been all over the place,” Lou said. “It’s a whole new team. A lot of these guys never were asked where they wanted to go. We moved in ’09. Guys like CC came in, brand new player, where do you want to go? Jeet, where do you want to go?”
