Dear C.C.

 

We know, CC, and it's OK

OK, CC, this has got to stop. So you didn’t come back to Milwaukee…we figured that would happen. Many of us are just happy we were still on your short list. Just a few years ago, a major free agent would have left town without ever looking back. But don’t treat us like this; saying signing with the Yankees wasn’t for the money and that you would have had more pressure in Milwaukee than New York because that is a load of bullsh*t that everyone can smell from New York to Milwaukee.

CC, I don’t think you understand how gravy your 11-2 record was to us. We knew you were going to make an impact, but the impact you made was far greater than most anyone expected. You literally carried the team on your shoulders and while we, the fans, were thankful, we realized how unfair it was to you…we felt your pain.

We didn’t blame you for losing in the postseason, oh no. We knew that the Superman pitching schedule you were on was going to bite the team in the ass sometime. We will still just thankful you got us to the postseason.

You spent only a couple months in Wisconsin, but you’ve already made yourself a legend here and you left as a legend. We will speak of you and tell your stories…unfortunately it ends with “the team lost to the soon-to-be World Champions and he went to New York.”

Most of us fans knew you were going to leave, heck according to many sportswriters at the beginning of the offseason you weren’t even going to consider staying. If you would have come back, you would have not had the pressure you speak of.

No, I believe you could have done anything but commit murder and the fans would still be behind you for what you did in the fall of 2008. It’s fairly easy to earn love and respect from Wisconsin fans; either work your ass off or get one of our teams to the promised land (for the Brewers it’s sadly just the postseason we’re looking for, for the Packers it’s a Super Bowl).

You did both and we would have remembered and appreciated that. CC, what you would have had in Milwaukee was standing ovations, children named after you, and a solid fan base that would have loved you for being really the first superstar player in 20 years to actually COME BACK. CC, we’re used to losing players as fans of a small market team…we’re not used to keeping our stars and I guarantee if you would have come back, you could have gone 12-12 and the fans would still stand and applaud. Will that be true in New York?

Now, here’s the pressure that you will probably recieve. Alex Rodriguez is one of the best hitters in the game. As a Yankee, he has consistently hit 35 or more home runs a year, drove in 100, and hit around .300. Yet, he has been villified by the entire city for not winning when it counts.

He was given, like you, a record contract. Once he went to New York, he had to instantly produce a championship. Do you think it will be any different for you? They have SportsCenter in NYC, they saw what you did for the “pitiful small market teams” in Milwaukee and Cleveland.

They are probably expecting not only 11-2, but a World Series and a Cy Young performance. What’s going to happen if you lose against the Rays or Red Sox? When you lost against the Cubs, Milwaukee fans weren’t down on you. They knew you would bounce back. Do you think that’s going to be the same always in New York? Sure maybe the first time, but ask Randy Johnson how they treat you in New York.

Randy went 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA, but had one bad game in the postseason and melted down the next year because of the pressure and made worse by a herniated disc at the end of the year.  But I guess you’re going there because it’s your best chance for a World Series Ring. Now that you said it, the entire city is going to be counting on you to produce it.

So please don’t tell us you left Milwaukee because of the “pressure” and don’t tell the world that it’s not about the money. An extra year and an extra $20 million over their already record breaking offer to get you to come and it wasn’t about the money? Please. Call it for what it is.

Don’t worry about us here in Milwaukee because we already figured you were gone. I truly hope you suceed in New York. Your big, caring personality will make it hard to root against the Yankees when you pitch.

I even plan on coming to see you sometime. I hope, for your sake, that you live up to the impossible standards that await you. I just don’t want you to end up like Alex Rodriguez, become disparaged, lose your wife, and end up dating an old pop star who’s into Kabballah. You deserve better than that.

Sincerely,

Bryan