A look back on CC Sabathia’s time with the Brewers ahead of his HOF induction

CC Sabathia spent just 116 days as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, and yet, as he rightfully becomes a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame this afternoon, it would be wrong not to mention his brief but memorable tenure in Milwaukee.

Sabathia's career accolades are seemingly endless: he was a 6x All-Star, Cy Young Award winner, ALCS MVP, World Series champion, member of the 3,000 strikeout club, and the list goes on and on. After all, there's a reason he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

However, to Brewers fans, Sabathia will always be known as the best trade deadline acquisition in franchise history, who played an integral role in returning postseason baseball to Milwaukee for the first time in 26 years. Let's take a walk down memory lane and reminisce on those 17 incredible starts back in the summer of ’08.

Remembering CC Sabathia's time with the Milwaukee Brewers

On July 7, 2008, despite holding a 49-40 record, the Brewers sat in third place in the NL Central, 0.5 game back of the St. Louis Cardinals and 4.0 games back of the first-place Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals and Brewers also occupied the top two spots in the NL Wild Card race, meaning regardless of their position in the division, the Brewers had a real shot at making the postseason for the first time since their AL pennant-winning season in 1982.

However, with a disappointing first half from veteran starter Jeff Suppan, the Brewers were in need of another arm to get them back into the playoffs for the first time in over a quarter of a century. On July 7, the Brewers’ then-general manager Doug Melvin got his guy.

For a package of four players that included former first-round pick Matt Laporta, big league pitcher Zach Jackson, pitching prospect Rob Bryson, who never cracked a big league roster, and eventually Michael Brantley (who was included as a Player To Be Named Later), the Brewers acquired Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians.

Sabathia was immediately thrown into Milwaukee's starting rotation, making his first start in a Brewers' uniform on July 8 — just one day after the trade went down. In his first start, he tossed six innings and allowed just two earned runs to the Colorado Rockies. After that? Three-straight complete games, in which he allowed just three total runs. But that was just the start.

The future Hall of Famer went on to toss four more complete games for the Crew during the second half of the 2008 season, making for a total of seven nine-inning outings in 17 starts for the Brewers. He consistently tossed over 100 pitches, and it took until his 14th start with Milwaukee for him to break an unbelievable streak of consecutive quality starts. Yes, you read that right. In his first 13 starts for the Brewers, Sabathia tossed at least six innings while allowing three earned runs or less. That, simply put, is incredible.

But, CC wasn't done yet. In his final regular season start with Milwaukee, the Brewers were facing their division rivals, the Chicago Cubs, in a must-win game. Not only did the Brewers need a win, but they also needed the Florida Marlins to beat the New York Mets in order to clinch the NL Wild Card. Sabathia, once again, delivered. He tossed a 122-pitch complete game, in which he allowed one unearned run, which was enough for the Brewers to pull off a 3-1 victory (you might remember a famous 8th inning home run from Ryan Braun). The Marlins won, and the Brewers returned to the postseason after an unbearable playoff drought.

For his historic performance during the Brewers' 2008 postseason run, Sabathia will forever be looked upon favorably by the Milwaukee faithful. It's clear that without his efforts and those 17 incredible starts from July 7 to September 28, postseason baseball would not have returned to Milwaukee in 2008.