CC Sabathia visiting Milwaukee Aug. 25 to commemorate 15th anniversary of 2008 playoff run
Former star pitcher CC Sabathia will be returning to Milwaukee on Aug. 25, appearing during the Brewers game against the San Diego Padres that night and commemorating the 15th anniversary of his legendary 2008 run.
It's the first time Sabathia has been back to Milwaukee since 2014, when he pitched for the New York Yankees.
Sabathia's Herculean performance in 2008 helped the Brewers reach the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. He went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA, working frequently on three days rest, and gave the Brewers a complete-game effort in the finale for a 3-1 win over the Cubs that clinched the franchise's first postseason berth in a generation.
The first 20,000 fans will receive a commemorative poster of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sports front page that commemorated the occasion, and everyone can see Sabathia throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Sabathia threw seven complete games, including three shutouts, in his brief tenure as a Brewer, beginning with a blockbuster trade from Cleveland in early July.
The occasion comes one day before Ben Sheets returns to Milwaukee and receives recognition in the Brewers Walk of Fame. Sheets was also part of that 2008 team, though he suffered an injury that forced him to leave his final start of the season and kept him from appearing in the playoffs.
It's uncertain if Sabathia, who signed with the Yankees after the 2008 season and immediately won a World Series, will merit immediate induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he's eligible in 2025. He's also be eligible for the Brewers Walk of Fame the same season, though there's no precedent for a player with only a partial season of work getting that honor.
If he does get the call to Cooperstown, he'll immediately become eligible for the Brewers Wall of Honor; to this point, he wouldn't have hit any of the career statistical benchmarks to get so honored.
The Wall of Honor honors those in Brewers history with 2,000 plate appearances; 1,000 innings (or 250 games) pitched; or winners of major awards such as MVP, Cy Young, reliever of the year, rookie of the year or Hall of Fame induction. For managers, anyone to manage a pennant winning team makes the cut.
That means among those not already inducted, eligible players include Christian Yelich, Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, Devin Williams, Ryan Braun, John Axford and Jeremy Jeffress.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: CC Sabathia appearing before Milwaukee Brewers game Aug. 25
