NEW YORK — NEW YORK - Days ago, when Orioles closer George Sherrill contemplated what it would be like to be part of Major League Baseball's 79th All-Star Game, he figured he would be content with just being there, even if he never made it to the fabled Yankee Stadium mound.
"I think the only thing I wouldn't want to do is pitch multiple innings," Sherrill said at the time. "But I don't think they'd ask me to do that."
At 2 a.m. yesterday, with an ice pack strapped to his left arm and a smile cemented on his lips, Sherrill sat in the home clubhouse and offered up a delirious laugh when reminded of his earlier comment.
"When you have 15 innings, I guess you have to use everybody," he said.
Sherrill was used, all right.
For 2 1/3 innings, tying the longest outing of his major league career. He hadn't gone that long since July 20, 2004, his fourth big league game.
His near-spotless performance was one of the biggest keys for an American League squad that rallied to win, 4-3, in 15 innings, extended its unbeaten streak to a record 12 games and clinched World Series home-field advantage for the sixth consecutive time.
It was perhaps the most memorable midsummer classic in the sport's history, a 4-hour, 50-minute marathon overflowing with pageantry, living history and dramatic plays all displayed on sports' grandest stage in its final year of existence.
The celebration was punctuated by the presence of 49 Hall of Famers, who took the field at their old positions during a pre-game ceremony, and a stirring visit from the New York Yankees' 78-year-old owner, George Steinbrenner. The sellout crowd of 55,632 roared from the first player introduction until the beginning of Grammy Award-winner Sheryl Crow's national anthem and continued nearly nonstop until the Minnesota Twins' Justin Morneau scored the winning run at 1:37 a.m.
"It was great. Everything from the Hall of Famers to the [stealth bomber] flyover to Sheryl Crow singing, it was great," Sherrill said. "You couldn't ask for a better day or a better game."
Or a better story than Sherrill, who went undrafted and spent five seasons in independent leagues before signing to play affiliated baseball at age 26.
Five years later, he's a big league All-Star, summoned with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the 12th and San Diego Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez at the plate.
