Rewind to April of 2008 on the 10th anniversary of the Milwaukee Brewers' memorable run to playoffs

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks is mobbed by teammates after delivering the game-winning hit in the 10th inning of a 3-2 win over the Reds on April 8, 2008.

It's been 10 years since the Brewers snapped a 26-year streak of missing the playoffs in 2008, a season characterized by a thrilling final week and the midseason acquisition of pitcher CC Sabathia. Each month, we'll look back at a segment of that season, which concluded with the Brewers in possession of the National League wild card.

With the first month of the 2018 season now in the books, here's a look back at the first month of that memorable 2008 season.

2008 March/April record: 14-12

Standings: 2.0 games behind first place (behind both Cardinals and Cubs) and 2.0 games out of wild card (either Cards or Cubs).

Player of the Month

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Ben Sheets reacts after throwing a complete game shutout against the San Francisco Giants on April 6, 2008.

Ben Sheets. The Sheets story has an unhappy ending, when injury kept him from the playoffs and limited his effectiveness in the second-to-last day of the 2008 season. But in a contract year, Sheets opened the 2008 season with a bang. The Brewers won all five of his starts in March and April, and he went 4-0 (the March 31 game was the only game where he didn’t get the win), posting a 1.64 ERA with 26 strikeouts, 11 walks, and six earned runs in 33 innings.

An early bad omen, however, was Sheets leaving a start after five innings with arm soreness and having his turn skipped. He came back from that injury, but he never had another month like April.

Game of the month

Milwaukee Brewers' Eric Gagne gets the final out to record his first save as a Brewer against the San Francisco Giants on April 5, 2008.

March 31 at Cubs. The season opener will largely be remembered for the dubious Brewers debut for Eric Gagne, even as the Brewers won. Ryan Braun’s RBI single and Corey Hart’s two-run double in the ninth against Kerry Wood spotted the Brewers a 3-0 lead, but the Cubs bounced back to tie the game in the bottom half under the most dramatic of circumstances. Gagne, who had signed a one-year, $10 million deal before the year, allowed a single, walk and three-run homer to Kosuke Fukudome, a nine-year veteran of Japanese leagues playing in his first Major League Baseball game. Rain-soaked Wrigley Field went insane.

But Gagne subsequently got out of the inning, and Craig Counsell led off the 10th with a double, then came home on a Tony Gwynn Jr. sacrifice fly. David Riske worked a 1-2-3 10th to give the Brewers the win.

Counting the March 31 win, the Brewers played in a staggering eight games that went to extra innings in April and went 5-3 on those occasions.

Big story lines

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Mike Cameron (right) celebrates with Prince Fielder after the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-7, on April 29, 2008.

Gallardo's delayed start: One of the most meaningful games of the 2008 season came on May 1 (not technically in our April purview here), when Yovani Gallardo tore his ACL and nearly missed the rest of the season. The loss of the second-year standout played a role in Milwaukee’s decision to trade for CC Sabathia in July. But Gallardo also started the year on the disabled list with a torn lateral meniscus. His first start wasn’t until April 20, and he compiled a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings before his May 1 outing, also at Wrigley Field.

Mike Cameron: One of Milwaukee’s major off-season acquisitions, outfielder Mike Cameron missed the first 25 games of the year after he tested positive a second time for a banned stimulant the year before. He wound up visiting a neurologist and applying for an exemption to take a banned stimulant as he continued to heal from a 2005 outfield collision, but he hadn’t applied prior to the test, which prevented him from cashing in to the highest degree in free agency.

With the Brewers, he signed for $5 million base salary, with a $1.25 million signing bonus and $10 million option for 2009 (that the team ultimately picked up). In his first game April 29, he went 3 for 5 with a walk and two RBIs in a 10-7 win over the Cubs. His two-run single was part of a huge three-run rally in the sixth.

Milwaukee Brewers rlief pitcher Derrick Turnbow reacts after allowing a 2-run homer to Cincinnati Reds' Adam Dunn on April 9, 2008.

The end of Derrick Turnbow: A 2006 All Star for the Brewers, former closer Derrick Turnbow became one of the team's most popular players, but he struggled at times in 2007 and was a question mark coming into 2008. His April was a major struggle, as he allowed 11 earned runs in just 6 1/3 innings. He further lost his command after accepting an assignment to Triple-A Nashville, and he was ultimately released. He never threw another pitch in the big leagues.

Subplots

Francisco Cordero, in his first series back at Miller Park after signing with the Reds following the 2007 season, ,locks down a save on April 10, 2008.

Torres tears it up: Another of the month’s strong players was Salomon Torres, an off-season trade acquisition at age 35 who initially said he was going to retire instead of leaving the Pirates organization and moving his family to Milwaukee. In that April 29 win, he allowed three runs that inflated his numbers, but to that point, he had a 2.08 ERA in 12 games with three relief victories. Torres, as many remember, would eventually become the closer midway through May when Eric Gagne continued to struggle.

The return of Coco: On April 10, the Reds topped the Brewers, 4-1, with Francisco Cordero locking down the save. The closer for the Brewers over the previous season and a half, Cordero spurned a Brewers contract offer after the 2007 season and chose to sign with the Reds for a slight increase in pay ($46 million over four years instead of $42).

Wes is more: Former Brewers third baseman Wes Helms homered in the top of the 10th to lift the Marlins past the Brewers on April 27. Helms, as many will remember, later hit the go-ahead home run for the Marlins to beat the Mets on the final day of the season in an outcome that clinched the wild card for the Brewers.

You might have forgotten

Tony Gwynn hits a sacrifice fly to drive in the winnig run in the 10th inning at Wrigley Field on Opening Day against the Chicago Cubs Monday, March 31, 2008.

Gwynn's 2007 magic: Gwynn’s heroics in the opener were a bit of a callback to what happened at the end of the 2017 season. Gwynn broke the hearts of the San Diego Padres – the team for which his father famously fashioned a Hall of Fame career. His two-out, two-strike RBI triple against future Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman tied the score in the ninth during the penultimate game of the season, and the Brewers went on to win in 11 to deny the Padres a chance to clinch the National League wild card.

The Brewers won the final day of the season, too, and the Padres fell into a tie with the Colorado Rockies for that playoff berth. The Rockies went on to win the one-game playoff for the wild card (another walk off), then sweep through the next eight games to reach the World Series.

Outside baseball in April 2008

April 4: Kansas defeats Memphis for the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Mario Chalmers hit a memorable late basket for the Jayhawks to force overtime. Memphis couldn't hit free throws but has since vacated the runnerup finish, anyway.

April 19: Pope Benedict XVI is elected.

April 20: Danica Patrick (future girlfriend of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers) becomes the first female driver to win an Indy Car race in the Japan 300.