In the summer of 2008, the Milwaukee Brewers were knocking on the door of their first postseason appearance in 26 years. They were just one piece short of truly being able to contend, and so then-general manager Doug Melvin made one of the best mid-season trades for a half-year rental in Major League Baseball history: he sent four prospects to the Cleveland Indians for reigning AL Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia.
In 17 starts with the Brewers following the trade, Sabathia went 11-2 with a sparkling 1.65 ERA. He also threw seven complete games (including three shutouts), and pitched multiple games on just three days of rest.
Of course, he will be remembered by the rest of the baseball world for his 11 years with the New York Yankees and seven-and-a-half years with Cleveland, but to Milwaukee, his half season of brilliance with the Brewers has made him a legend in the smallest market in baseball.
Former Milwaukee Brewers LHP CC Sabathia Was Elected to the Hall of Fame
On Tuesday night, it was announced that Sabathia, along with Ichiro and former closer Billy Wagner, were elected to the Hall of Fame. Both Sabathia and Ichiro were on the ballot for the first time while Wagner was on for the 10th and final time.
Ichiro fell one vote shy of being a unanimous selection, but ended up with 99.7% of the vote. Sabathia garnered 86.8% of votes while Wagner had 82.5%.
Former Kansas City Royals and New York Mets legend Carlos Beltran fell short of the required 75% of votes required for election finishing with 70.3%. The only other player close was Atlanta Braves legend Andruw Jones, who had 66.2%.
Former Brewers closer Francisco Rodriguez, who was on the ballot for the third time, had 10.2% of votes.
Former Milwaukee Brewers LHP CC Sabathia Was Like a Kid on Christmas All Day
Despite the voting results not being announced until Wednesday night, it was pretty well-known that Sabathia was going to get the call.
And he must have known it, too, because his X page was filled with posts expressing how excited he was:
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) January 21, 2025
.@CC_Sabathia‘s resume speaks for itself.
✅ 3,500+ innings
✅ 3,000+ strikeouts
✅ 250+ wins
✅ Cy Young AwardHe sat down with @CY24_7 ahead of today’s @baseballhall election announcement to reflect on his illustrious career. pic.twitter.com/f2BmLXHPKo
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 21, 2025
Feels like Christmas Eve 😂🙏🏾
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) January 21, 2025
Almost that time!!!🤞🏾
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) January 21, 2025
FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAMER!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) January 21, 2025
It has been well-known for a while now that Sabathia will go into Cooperstown as a Yankee. After his election, though, he did give the Brewers some love:
CC Sabathia says he will go into the Hall wearing a Yankees hat but gives a shout out to his other two teams.
“I’m very thankful to Milwaukee for trading for me,” he said, “and having that run I did there.”
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) January 22, 2025
Milwaukee is thankful, too!
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