MLB

Sabathia gives Yanks wins, grins

TAMPA — CC Sabathia aimed a fastball as if trying to throw it to the outside corner against a righty hitter and it whipped fully across the plate, forcing Jorge Posada to readjust quickly to catch it.

This was not a completely rare occurrence in 2009. But this was among the first of 30 pitches yesterday in Sabathia’s initial bullpen session of spring training 2010. So Sabathia grinned, shrugged and said toward Posada, “I’m working on it.” And the two men shared a smile, which is a much more familiar sight than errant fastballs when it comes to Sabathia and those who share his work space.

“He’s as good as has been in this clubhouse,” said media relations head Jason Zillo, a Yankees employee since 1996.

Zillo would get an amen throughout the Yankees organization. Phil Hughes called it “refreshing” that a player at the top of the sport both on the field and at the bank could be so inclusive with and amiable to everyone from the clubhouse kids retrieving dirty towels to the owners of the team.

In his first season as a Yankee, Sabathia’s impact went beyond the 19 regular-season wins, fourth-place in the Cy Young voting and his three-day’s rest brilliance in the playoffs. He also honored one of the mandates Brian Cashman had for investing a pitching record $161 million on the big man.

Obviously, first and foremost, the Yankees had a broken rotation and needed a true ace. But just as obvious to anyone around was that they had a broken clubhouse. The atmosphere had turned toxic for many reasons, notably Joe Girardi’s uptight nature, the blend of ego and insecurity that fed Alex Rodriguez’s relentless soap opera, and the fear youngsters, in particular, had of offending the stoic old guard.

Sabathia knew all about it. During a one-on-one conversation the two had at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas during the 2008 Winter Meetings, Sabathia told Cashman that he heard the Yankees’ clubhouse was a joyless place. It was that clubhouse disharmony more than his desire to play near his West Coast home or bat in the NL that worried Sabathia about joining the Yankees. He considered having fun at work central to his own success.

But Cashman had done his homework on Sabathia, and knew of the Pied Piper rep. He told Sabathia, “That is why we want to bring you here because you are the type of person to help bring us back together.”

And more than anyone — more than A.J. Burnett’s pies or Nick Swisher’s zaniness — he did. He had been taken care of as a young Indian by veterans such as Dave Burba and Ellis Burks and Jim Thome, and felt it was important to pay it forward, to make it fun and family, to make everyone in his sphere feel comfortable. And in hundreds of small ways over a long campaign he did.

He was never a prima donna relaxing in the clubhouse and, instead, was on the bench cheering on every pitch of a teammate. He purchased prime seats and a suite for a Cavaliers playoff game last May 28, when the Yankees were in Cleveland, hosting more than 20 members of the team from security to support staff to A-Rod.

In a sometimes contentious meeting to determine how to divvy up playoff money, Sabathia argued to be generous and at one point said he would pay the difference out of his own pocket if Francisco Cervelli were not given a full share.

And nothing has stopped with a championship. This offseason he built a basketball court at his New Jersey home and had an open-door policy for anyone who worked for the team.

“He pulls people in,” Cashman said.

These days Sabathia has no doubt about his decision as he heads toward another Opening Day start. He loves being a Yankee, says being in the Canyon of Heroes has left him — if anything — hungrier to see that scene again. And, of course, he likes working in a happy clubhouse that he did so much to transform.

joel.sherman@nypost.com