CC Sabathia was ejected from his final start of the regular season needing just two innings to reach 155, a benchmark that would have triggered a $500,000 bonus. As the Yankees were blowing out the Rays, Sabathia took some issue with retaliation against him hitting Jake Bauers in the fifth inning. Rays pitcher Andrew Kittredge responded to the (likely unintentional) hit by throwing at the head of Austin Romine. In the sixth, Sabathia plunked Jesus Sucre and got tossed.

The Yankees recognized Sabathia's sacrifice and, perhaps unsurprisingly, paid out his bonus anyway this week. Real recognize real.

"We thought it was a very nice gesture by the Yankees," Kyle Thousand, Sabathia's agent, said to the Associated Press. "CC was very appreciative and is really excited to come back next year and, hopefully, win a championship."

The Yankees, however, didn't want a lot of attention on the gesture -- perhaps especially since Sabathia's sacrifice was retaliatory, something that MLB is trying to stamp out.

"It was something that we did very private and weren't looking to publicize, and I'll just leave it at that," Brian Cashman, the Yankees GM, said.

Sabathia, who re-signed with New York this offseason, has been with the Yankees since 2009, and no one has ever had any gripes about him as a teammate. After the game, Sabathia simply said, via ESPN: "I don't really make decisions based on money, I guess, I just felt like it was the right thing to do."

You've got to respect the gesture from a veteran. Even for a player with his earnings, $500,000 isn't chump change.