Sabathia to talk '08 near-no-no on 'Unscripted'

MILWAUKEE -- Among the classic games set to air during the first half of May on Fox Sports Wisconsin is the infamous no-hitter that wasn’t. And as a bonus, the network will air an extended conversation with the author of that performance -- CC Sabathia -- for its new “Unscripted” series.

Sabathia’s video chat with Brewers play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson is scheduled to air Monday at 6:30 p.m. CT, two days before the rebroadcast of Sabathia’s Aug. 31, 2008, win over the Pirates at PNC Park. He struck out 11 that day and logged the sixth of his seven complete games in a Brewers uniform during the second half of that season, but he was charged with one hit, a dribbler just off the mound that Sabathia bobbled while trying to make the play. Then-Brewers manager Ned Yost fumed about the ruling for days.

"That's a joke," Yost said. "That wasn't even close. Whoever the scorekeeper was absolutely denied Major League Baseball a nice no-hitter right there."

Brewers media relations director Mike Vassallo formally appealed the decision to MLB, to no avail. Later, Sabathia signed a copy of the letter -- “Thanks for trying!! LOL,” he wrote -- and today it is framed on the wall in Vassallo’s home.

The only one who didn’t seem upset was Sabathia. Last summer, during an interview for the forthcoming book "The Milwaukee Brewers at 50," he chalked it up as, “Just one of those things.”

“That play happened so early in the game that it wasn’t a no-hitter,” Sabathia said. “If it had happened later in the game and I was pitching to get a no-hitter, maybe it would have been different. But it was so early.

“That whole run with the Brewers was so fun, anyway. So, it doesn’t matter.”

The ruling didn’t dampen the celebration at PNC Park’s home plate. Like each of Sabathia’s complete games, he jumped into the arms of big Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder.

“Sabathia brought Milwaukee into the ‘A block’ -- a TV term for the first highlight,” Anderson said. “We were in the 'A block' for the whole summer after that. Every time I see CC, I thank him for my career.”

Anderson’s conversation with Sabathia is one of a number of features in the works for FS Wisconsin’s “Unscripted,” a half-hour Zoom-style show on the television home of the Brewers and Bucks designed to bring together prominent leaders in Milwaukee professional sports. The show, hosted by Craig Coshun and Dario Melendez, debuted April 21.

The rest of FS Wisconsin’s “Brewers Classics” schedule for early May is expected to be released on Wednesday.