Fifteen things you forgot (or maybe not) from the 2008 finale between the Brewers and Cubs

On Aug. 25, the Milwaukee Brewers will welcome back CC Sabathia, commemorating 15 years since the Brewers made a thrilling run to their first postseason in 26 years. Sabathia's complete-game victory over the Cubs on Sept. 28, 2008, sealed the deal, an epic do-or-die moment that gave long suffering Brewers fans a moment in the sun.

On Aug. 26, the Brewers will add Ben Sheets to the Walk of Fame; though Sheets wasn't healthy for that final day, he was essential to the team's overall success that year.

Surely you remember Ryan Braun's home run in the eighth to give the Brewers the lead and Sabathia's iconic scream, captured for the front page of the next day's sports section. But what else do you recall about that game against the Chicago Cubs?

The Cubs entered the contest with 97 wins, having sewn up the National League Central. It was considerably different stakes for the Brewers, with 89 wins and needing one more to assure at least a tie for the single wild-card spot available in the National League at the time.

Here's what you may have forgotten about that day.

A rain delay created remarkable real-time drama

The 45,299 in attendance that day (well, at least the non-Cubs fans who stuck around) will recall the drama of seeing the Brewers win to force at least a one-game playoff with the Mets for the wild-card spot, then sticking around to watch the Mets lose to the Marlins and give the Brewers a wild-card berth outright.

That wouldn't be entirely uncommon today; since 2015, Major League Baseball has coordinated the games on the final day of the regular season to launch at the same time around the country for maximum drama. But in 2008, games were starting at all different times.

The Marlins-Mets game in New York was scheduled to start an hour before the Brewers-Cubs game, but a rain delay pushed that contest back an hour, lining it up almost perfectly with games in the central time zone.

It also wasn't clear that Mets star Carlos Beltrán would play because of sore ribs; he did, and he hit a two-run homer that tied the game in the sixth.

The game one night earlier wasn't the blowout you remember

Perhaps you remember Milwaukee's Saturday loss to the Cubs as a blowout since the score was 7-3 or because Ben Sheets left the game early with an injury. But in a week where the Brewers had won five in a row, including some unforgettable thrillers, this nearly could have been the crown jewel of the week.

Ryan Braun hit a first-pitch fastball from starter Ted Lilly for a double to open the seventh, breaking up Lilly's no-hitter. Lilly had thrown 80 pitches at that point, and with Chicago's playoff berth sealed, it didn't make sense to keep him in there, and he was lifted from the game one batter later.

Against Chicago's bullpen, the Brewers pulled back to within 4-3 in the eighth, with the bases loaded and one out, no less. But J.J. Hardy hit a tapper, with the force procured at home, and Corey Hart grounded out to end the inning. Then, Brewers closer Salomon Torres allowed three runs in the top of the ninth.

There's an interesting nugget there though; Hardy's at-bat came against Michael Wuertz, against whom he would draw a walk the following night in a key rally.

Torres had been a godsend for the Brewers that season after offseason acquisition Eric Gagne didn't work out as closer, but Torres struggled in September, allowing 12 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings (8.53 ERA). Still, he would have been the choice to replace Sabathia the next game if Sabathia had been pulled in the ninth.

The finale overall was pretty boring until late (though not the first inning)

Most of the game was defined by inaction. From the last out of the top of the second through the top of the sixth, fans saw both pitchers face the minimum over 24 batters. A third-inning walk to Alfonso Soriano was erased by a double play, and everyone kept making outs until a two-out single by Ryan Theriot (he was quickly stranded).

Then, the next six batters also made an out, a spell finally broken on Ray Durham's double leading off the seventh.

The first inning had as much adventure as anything. Prince Fielder made a basket catch in foul territory to retire Soriano leading off the first, and right fielder Corey Hart made a sliding catch to rob Derrek Lee, ending the inning. In the bottom half, Mike Cameron led off with a single against spot starter Ángel Guzmán.

That was a great omen considering Guzmán had allowed nine hits and six runs in his 7½ innings of work that year, all in September after coming back from Tommy John surgery. That had included three runs in two-thirds of an inning against Milwaukee.

But then something wild happened. He threw a series of nasty pitches to strike out Ray Durham, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, then another against Hardy leading off the second in a 1-2-3 inning. Cameron became the only Brewers player to reach via hit in the game and not score; Milwaukee finished the game with just four hits.

The Brewers allowing a run should have never happened, for multiple reasons

Baseball didn't even begin using replay in the postseason until 2009 and didn't have an expanded process until 2014. If replay had been employed in 2008, it would have probably taken a run off the board for the Cubs ... and made Ryan Braun's heroics a bit less dramatic.

In the second inning, future Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramírez flared a single against Sabathia, and with one out, Micah Hoffpauir hit a grounder to first base that went right between the wickets of Fielder for a critical error.

That put runners on the corners for Ronny Cedeño, whose slow roller to Hardy nearly turned into a double play. But Cedeño was ruled safe by first base umpire Jerry Meals, though replay showed the throw may have beaten him.

It was an unearned run, and it gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead that they would maintain until the seventh. The Brewers turned three other double plays in the game, including the one everyone remembers to end the game.

Carlos Zambrano was originally named the starter but settled for a pinch-hitting appearance instead

Rather than burn a pinch hitter early in a game the Cubs expected to use several relievers, manager Lou Piniella sent up Carlos Zambrano to pinch hit leading off the third.

Zambrano could hit. It was the seventh time he'd been used as a pinch hitter that season, and he finished his career a .238 hitter with 24 home runs. Exactly two weeks earlier, Zambrano threw a no-hitter on the Miller Park mound, facing Houston in a series that had to be relocated because of Hurricane Ike. It was Chicago's first no-hitter since 1972 (the franchise has thrown four more since, including one against the Brewers).

Zambrano had actually struggled since, allowing 13 earned runs in his next two starts (6⅓ innings) and then seven runs (three earned) in a Game 2 loss to the Dodgers in the National League Division Series. But Piniella initially indicated before Saturday's game that Zambrano would start the Sunday finale, then reconsidered the decision and told reporters after the game that it'd be a bullpen game, with Zambrano slated for the playoff series start.

Zambrano struck out on a high fastball, and that was the last the Brewers would see of him that day.

Imagine how Sabathia would be remembered if his sixth inning went slightly differently

You think Sabathia's performance is already regarded as Herculean? Imagine what would have happened if he could have kept the ball fair in the sixth. As a hitter, Sabathia narrowly missed a home run with one out, absolutely crushing a hanging breaking ball from Cubs reliever Kevin Hart just foul past the right-field foul pole.

He grounded back to the pitcher on the next pitch. Hart only threw nine pitches in the inning and finished with 23 pitches to get six outs.

Sabathia finished the year 11 for 48 at the plate with two doubles and a home run, coming in his second start on the last day before the all-star break to help beat the Reds.

Speaking of near misses: In the fourth, Ryan Braun hit a screamer against future Brewers reliever Neal Cotts, though it turned into a fairly routine play for left fielder Soriano. It was the same swing he would use to put a ball much farther in the eighth.

Do we talk enough about Ray Durham?

Brought in during a stretch of struggles for starting second baseman Rickie Weeks, Durham finished his career with the Brewers, posting an .846 OPS and .369 on-base percentage in 122 plate appearances with Milwaukee. That included three homers and 12 doubles. Perhaps remarkably, he only drove in runs in victories for Milwaukee twice, and both were lopsided outcomes, so perhaps he doesn't have that crystallized "moment."

But leading off the seventh, he smoked a double to the gap in right-center, with center fielder Reed Johnson shaded pretty far to left center.

Thus began the rally that would tie the game.

Durham read a grounder to third perfectly to move up on Ryan Braun's groundout, and after Fielder was intentionally walked, Wuertz threw four straight balls to J.J. Hardy to load the bases. The fourth pitch was on the corner and could have been called a strike.

Hart saw three pitches and swung and missed at all of them, and none were in the zone. That meant bases loaded, two outs, in a 1-0 game.

Durham, by the way, also hit a ball to the warning track one batter before Braun's heroic swing in the eighth. It caused Hoffpauir to get twisted around, but he made the catch.

Craig Counsell was an absolute superstar with the bases loaded

Counsell was a staggering .412 hitter with the bases loaded in his career to that point; he'd finish his career as a .379 hitter in those situations with three grand slams.

But he also swung and missed at the first pitch he saw from Wuertz, then took a close pitch for the first ball. The next three pitches all missed, forcing in Durham to tie the game at 1-1.

Counsell also initiated a double play in the top half of the seventh after Aramis Ramírez led off with a single and it started to look like Sabathia could be tiring.

When Aramis Ramírez left the game, another familiar name took his place

Ramírez left the game after getting retired in the seventh; he was responsible for two of his team's four hits that day. He was then replaced at third base by future Brewers third baseman Casey McGehee. Announcer Brian Anderson, understandably not yet familiar with the unproven McGehee, announced his name as "Mick-GEE-hee" instead of what Brewers fans came to know as simply "McGee."

That could have been a fascinating subplot considering McGehee was then on deck in the ninth when Lee grounded into a double play to end the game. Brewers history might have easily been decided on a matchup between Salomon Torres and Casey McGehee. Or, more likely, it would have involved another future Brewer, Jim Edmonds, who had stepped into the on-deck circle in McGehee's stead.

Sabathia's barehand play corresponds perfectly with a Mets-Marlins moment

Remember the barehand play Sabathia made for the final out of the eighth inning? With his left hand, he reached for Koyie Hill's one-hopper weakly back to the mound, making the play to end the inning and keep the game tied at 1-1. The stadium was reaching earthquake-level volume.

It's during that time in the game that Wes Helms, a former Brewer, has scorched a leadoff home run in the eighth inning against reliever Scott Schoenweis to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead over the Mets. Fans watching at home are made aware of that update when the broadcast returns for the bottom of the eighth.

The Mets brought in Luis Ayala to face the next hitter, Dan Uggla, who then also went deep to make it 4-2. Brewers fans were given the update on Uggla's blast ... just before Ryan Braun stepped to the plate.

But first, CC Sabathia batted for himself

"I've seen everything now," Brewers commentator Bill Schroeder said as he witnessed Sabathia stepping to the plate for his at-bat in the top of the eighth. Schroeder had opined there was simply no way the Brewers could let Sabathia hit for himself if the game were still tied in that spot.

It's perhaps the most memorable decision Brewers manager Dale Sveum made in his abbreviated tenure at the helm. Sabathia was at 107 pitches at that point.

He struck out against Bob Howry, the seventh Cubs pitcher of the game. Cameron followed with an opposite-field single, and after Durham flew out to the warning track, up came Braun.

'I thought I hit it good enough to be a home run, but I wasn't positive'

Howry threw a first-pitch fastball. Whether or not Braun knew right away, Miller Park went crazy.

"I thought I hit it good enough to be a home run, but I wasn’t positive," Braun said of the 403-foot drive. "I didn’t hit it as good as the grand slam the other day. I felt like the home run I hit the other day was the biggest one in my life, but I think this surpasses that."

The ball glanced off fans in the left field bleachers and into the bullpen, where Seth McClung and other relievers could be seen riotously celebrating. It appears Guillermo Mota beat McClung to the baseball as it fell.

Bill Hall suffered a cut lip when it collided with Braun's helmet during a post-homer hug. Braun gave on-deck batter Fielder an aggressive high-five and had barely gotten back into the dugout when he immediately took a curtain call in a sequence that lasted only 60 seconds between the swing of the bat and the first pitch to Fielder.

Do you remember the Brewers bench coach in that game?

Brewers legend Robin Yount had been contacted by Sveum and asked to serve as bench coach when Sveum abruptly became manager with 12 games to go.

That became serendipitous because Yount famously homered twice on the last day of the season in 1982, helping the Brewers beat the Orioles in a winner-take-all game for a playoff berth.

Derrek Lee was likely Sabathia's last hitter

Torres was standing in the bullpen, ready to enter the game. After Ryan Theriot's one-out single on a full-count, Sveum has said he figured Derrek Lee would be his last hitter of the game.

Here's the part you remember. Lee, a two-time all-star who received MVP votes in 2008, fouled off the first offering and took a close pitch for a ball, then a near-identical pitch for a strike to fall behind, 1-2.

He then hits a ball to Durham, who flipped to J.J. Hardy at second. Hardy had to go airborne to avoid a hard-charging Theriot, but his throw to first beat Lee by a mile.

Sabathia finished with seven strikeouts, one walk, four hits and one unearned run allowed. He threw 122 pitches, 81 for strikes.

Odds and ends

• The Mets' Ryan Church hit a ball to deep center field with a runner on base and two outs in the ninth of the 4-2 game against the Marlins, but center fielder Cameron Maybin settled under it and clinched the berth, sending the clubhouse and stadium into a new frenzy.

• The Brewers 4-9 hitters went 0 for 16 in the game.

• The Brewers lost only three Sabathia starts during his torrid second half of the 2008 season, but two were against the Cubs. He allowed four runs July 28 in the start of a disastrous four-game sweep at Miller Park (the Brewers' bullpen allowed the winning runs in the ninth) and allowed four runs in a loss at Wrigley Field on Sept. 16 the day after the franchise fired Ned Yost.

• The broadcast on Fox Sports Wisconsin, expecting a possible tiebreaker game between the Mets and Brewers, showed footage from 2007 when the Padres and Rockies met in a tiebreaker to determine the NL West winner. The Rockies won that game in a walk-off, but it only mattered because the Brewers beat the Padres in back-to-back games to end the 2007 season (including a thriller), clinching the franchise's first winning season since 1992 in the process.

• Jason Kendall caught all but two innings in the final 34 games of the year.

• It was owner Mark Attanasio's 51st birthday the next day after the clincher.

• Did you remember these guys were on the playoff roster? Eric Gagne, Manny Parra, Mitch Stetter, Carlos Villanueva, Mike Rivera, Brad Nelson, Tony Gwynn Jr.

• Did you remember these guys played for the Brewers in 2008? Derrick Turnbow, Julian Tavarez, Laynce Nix, Mike Lamb, Hernán Iribarren.

• Players who were not on the playoff roster but who suited up in the dugout with the team: Ben Sheets, David Riske, Joe Dillon, Vinny Rottino, Gabe Kapler, and Russell Branyan.

• Tim Dillard, Alcides Escobar, and Mark DiFelice were with the team in the playoffs but not in uniform.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The moments you may have forgotten from the 2008 Brewers finale