CC Sabathia Cannot Be Blamed for the Brewers' Woes

The picture says it all. The ball went up and into the stands. Grand slam. Game over. Hello Milwaukee Brewers, and good-bye. How was your first stay in the postseason in the last 26 years? To some it up: disappointing.

Of course, it's not over yet. There is still a Milwaukee home game to be played. It is a game for a reason, after all. I mean, if the Boston Red Sox can come back in a series, then the Brewers can...Right?

Regardless of who you are: The skeptic who never thought they'd make it in, the fair-weather fan who gave up on "The Crew" after Sabathia gave up the slam, or the lifer who won't say it's over until, well, it's over.

But this isn't Joe DiMaggio. This isn't the Yankees, or the Sox, for that matter. This is the Milwaukee Brewers, who snuck into, or backed into the playoffs at the last possible moment.

They needed the Mets to cave, as they have been, and luck was on their side. But luck tends to run dry when you start playing the games that matter. All those other 162 games? Just for positioning.

And here we are, Milwaukee fans, riding the coattails of the great CC Sabathia, only to have him let us down with a performance that made him look human. His cape, tattered and worn, and the large "S" that would be there, now virtually gone—we can see him for what he is: a man. And he sweats. He tires. He loses.

But can we really blame him? And in all actuality, shouldn't we be praising him?

He came to the land of nothing and nobodies, rescued our dull MLB existence, and put this town on the map. ESPN noticed we were a city, recognized that Ryan Braun is one heck of a player, and began the talks of "nervous" Ned Yost. Yeah, we were in the lime light, alright. And boy, was it grand.

But, like they say, all good things—even great things—must come to an end. But I ask of you, as fans, writers, analysts, and as people, to not blame the pitcher for this team's demise. Don't let it, as it has been for the entire season, fall all on Sabathia. He got us here. Don't blame him for the exit. Because if you do, he might not come back.

(Brett Favre, anyone?)

But most importantly, the rest of the team should be accounted for. The lack of offense and timely hitting, Rickie Weeks' uncanny ability to come up with an error at exactly the wrong time, or Mike Cameron's rare drop that just happens to come in the biggest series of his life.

These great players, such as Sabathia, should not be stoned in front of the masses for their weaknesses. His team should have been prepared to score runs in his defense, but like they've done all season when it mattered, they choked.

So, how will you remember these 2008 Milwaukee Brewers? As the team that rode Ned Yost for 150 games, gave up on him and made the playoffs, and then thanked him through email for "getting us to the position to strike"? Or how about the team that broke a 26-year drought, only to be embarrassed in a series sweep to the Phillies?

Whatever you decided to call them or label them, know this: CC Sabathia, whether you take the Game Two loss into consideration or not, saved the day.