Independent's Day: Sherrill Beats the Odds

Long before he joined the Baltimore Orioles as an overlooked piece of perhaps the shrewdest trade of the offseason, George Sherrill started on his long road out of the independent leagues with little more than his own determination.

But even among those who didn't think he had a chance to make it to the majors -- and there were plenty of them -- there was little doubt that if his physical prowess developed, he would have the mental toughness to succeed.

"One thing he had was no fear," said Charley Kerfeld, a former Seattle Mariners scout, who took a gamble by signing the pitcher to his first contract with a major league organization.

Five years later, Sherrill will take his seat in the Yankee Stadium bullpen alongside the likes of Francisco Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera, his American League teammates for tonight's 2008 All-Star Game.

"It's good to be able to maybe give somebody playing independent ball something to look at, to keep sticking it out," said Sherrill, who bounced around the independent leagues for four years. "If they're thinking, 'Well, this is my last year' or something, it can happen. It's good to be the person who's gone through it, maybe give somebody else some hope."

Sherrill is one of the biggest reasons the Orioles have surpassed expectations this season. His 28 saves -- some of them nail-biters that have endeared him to fans -- put him on pace to shatter the franchise record for a first-year player. Not bad for a onetime overweight set-up man for the Northern League's Winnipeg Goldeyes.

"Being in independent ball, I think that has a lot to do with it," Sherrill said. "Four-and-a-half years of that, I feel you can handle anything. I had to work a little bit harder than the other guys in baseball."

His hard work helped him rise through the Seattle organization, eventually taking a role with the Mariners as a left-handed specialist, a label he shed when the team traded him to Baltimore with Adam Jones and prospects for star pitcher Erik Bedard.

Before the trade was finalized, Orioles Manager Dave Trembley turned to a trusted friend, former Mariners bullpen coach Jim Slaton, whom he had known since his days of coaching community college baseball in Southern California. Trembley was already aware of Sherrill's statistics, and the fact that Sherrill had improved drastically against right-handers in the season before the trade. But Trembley wanted to know about Sherrill's makeup, eager to learn if he could handle the responsibility of closing.

"His preparation was always good," Slaton said. "He always wanted the ball, and he was always very aggressive in the strike zone. Obviously that's what you need to be a closer."

Slaton said Sherrill spent relatively little time with the Mariners learning hitters' strengths and weaknesses, choosing instead to capitalize on his own strengths. And Slaton liked the fact that Sherrill was willing to pitch even when his arm was sore from use.

Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz could see some fight in Sherrill just from the way he attacked the strike zone, evidence of what he called a "survival mode."

"As soon as you become too fine, as soon as you start giving guys too much credit, you're in trouble," Kranitz said.

And if there were any lingering doubts of Sherrill's mettle, they were erased on June 24 at Wrigley Field. Sherrill entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the Orioles leading the Chicago Cubs by two runs. In the bottom of the ninth, he allowed a single, a walk and another single to load the bases.

As his teammates fretted, Sherrill responded with three straight strikeouts. Afterward, his teammates acknowledged the clubhouse line used to describe Sherrill's appearances, a phrase that has found its way onto signs at Camden Yards: "Never in doubt, Georgie."

"Eventually, you've got to trust your stuff and concentrate," Sherrill said with a shrug and a laugh. "I guess sometimes it takes bases loaded with no outs to do it."

The next day, the game ball from the 7-5 victory sat on the top shelf of his locker, the date and score written on it in black marker. His time in the independent leagues has taught him to appreciate what he has, so he plans to frame each ball collected after every one of his saves.

"You can't ever let people tell you that you can't do it," Trembley said. "I can relate to that a little bit more than a lot of other people can. You can call him an overachiever. But he's a baseball player, and a pretty good one."