MLB

CC knows what Phil and Joba are feeling with Yankees

TAMPA — Nine years ago, CC Sabathia was in a spot similar to the one Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain are in today.

He was 20 years old and locked in a fight with Steve Karsay for the fifth spot in the Cleveland rotation.

One difference was that Sabathia and Karsay waged their battle in Winter Haven, with only two newspapers covering the competition.

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Chamberlain and Hughes? Their fight plays out on the back page of The Post. They also have Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves in the hunt.

Another difference? If Sabathia had lost that long-ago competition, he was headed to the minors. Chamberlain and Hughes both will come north with the Yankees — the loser in their battle goes to the Bomber bullpen, not Scranton.

Still, there are emotions at play for Chamberlain and Hughes — and Sabathia sympathizes with the two competitors.

“I don’t know how I would have handled that here [in the media spotlight],” Sabathia said. “Luckily, I was where I was at.”

Indians GM Mark Shapiro believed Sabathia should start the season at Triple-A. Manager Charlie Manuel told Sabathia that, if he pitched well, which he did, he would make the team.

“Mark Shapiro didn’t want me to be in the big leagues,” Sabathia recalled. “Charlie said, ‘No, I want him on the team.’ That January, he told me, ‘You pitch good, then I am going to bring you.’ He kept his word.

“I didn’t realize how much of a big deal it was, how much he had to fight for me. If I had gotten sent to Triple-A, it would have crushed me, because I felt like I pitched well.”

There was an emotional moment when Sabathia broke down, believing he didn’t make the club.

The Indians ended camp and left Sabathia behind to work in a minor-league exhibition game, since he wasn’t at the top of the rotation. Watching the Tribe leave without him was too much for the lefty, who believed he was headed for the minors.

“I remember the team left and I wasn’t starting until later and they hadn’t told me I made the team yet,” Sabathia recalled.

“They left and I cried. I didn’t know that at the time, they hadn’t told me. I went back to my room and I cried. I thought I pitched well enough to make the team.”

Sabathia’s father was in the room with him. The old man cried, too.

Then the next day, while taking his father to the Orlando airport, Sabathia’s cell phone chirped.

“Charlie called and told me, ‘You made the team,’ ” Sabathia said. “That was a good trip, because me and my dad both cried the night before. That day was emotional — it was me, him and one of his best friends.”

Nine years later, Sabathia remembers every detail of the call.

“We were on Highway 27, I will never forget,” Sabathia said. “We were at a 7-Eleven gas station. [Manuel] called while we were pumping gas. I will never forget that.”

Hughes understands this is New York.

“Not everyone gets a back page in spring training — everything isn’t blown up [elsewhere],” Hughes said. “It’s been fine. I didn’t know how I was going to handle it, but it’s been mostly mellow. I prepared for the worst.”

Sabathia says he hasn’t talked to Hughes or Chamberlain, who remain the favorites to land the fifth spot even though Aceves and Mitre have been very good and Gaudin OK.

“They are handling it well. It’s not like one of them is going to Triple-A,” Sabathia said. “Both are going to be in the big leagues.”

Just like him and Karsay, who went to the bullpen nine years ago to allow one the elite pitchers in baseball a chance to launch a career.

george.king@nypost.com