Rising from the ‘Peg to the Show

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This article was published 10/03/2020 (2129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The road to becoming an MLB all-star typically doesn’t run through Shaw Park.

That’s because the majority of the players you’ll see at Winnipeg’s downtown ballpark have already had their big league dreams crushed.

Some continue to play because they simply love the game and it’s what they’ve been doing their entire life; others are convinced their call up to the show is still on its way, even though the radar gun or their batting average clearly says otherwise.

Yes, there are some independent ballplayers who have a breakthrough and get their contracts purchased by MLB teams. A few of them will even work their way up to the club’s Triple-A affiliate. But the majority end up getting released after a year, maybe two if they’re lucky, and then they’ll have to start all over again.

George Sherrill, a southpaw relief pitcher from Memphis, Tenn., looked like a guy who was destined to play his professional career at the independent level. For starters, he wasn’t even drafted. He spent a couple of seasons playing junior college ball before spending his final two years of eligibility at Austin Peay State University — not exactly a baseball powerhouse.

But when school was finished, Sherrill wanted to keep playing, so he signed a deal with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League prior to the 1999 season. They paid him US$500 a month.

So, was he out there to prove all the scouts wrong and climb the mountain all the way up to the MLB?

“I didn’t even really know what the big leagues were,” Sherrill, now 42, admitted in a phone interview from his home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“It was just something on TV. Obviously, it’s something you strive for as a kid, but I really was never that good. I was decent at it, but I wasn’t one of those people that you see and say ‘Man, he’s a top-five pick.’ You know, I just wanted to play.”

“I remember staying at a hotel not too far from the ballpark. In spring training there was snow everywhere and it was cold and that sort of thing.”
– George Sherrill on his first memories of playing in Winnipeg

And that’s what he did. After two years in Evansville, Sherrill joined the Sioux Falls Canaries of the Northern League in 2001. After a year with the Canaries, he was traded to the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

“I remember staying at a hotel not too far from the ballpark. In spring training there was snow everywhere and it was cold and that sort of thing,” Sherrill said of his first memories of playing in Winnipeg.

“I remember the walk. You had to go down underground because if it was windy or whatever, you could get knocked out onto the street when you’re coming around those big buildings. I don’t know if that was true or not, but that was the rumour.”

In Sherrill’s only full season with the Fish, he helped the team to a 56-33 record. They reached the Northern League championship series but lost to the New Jersey Jackals in four games. Sherrill, who was 25 at the time, appeared in 38 games that season, picked up a pair of saves, posted a 3.07 ERA and had a 3-5 record out of the bullpen. Solid numbers, but nothing that jumped off the page.

“I remember we were really good. Gosh, we had (Harry) Berrios, (Charles) Peterson, Pete Rose Jr., (Brent) Sachs, he was really good, (Max) Poulin, he was really good. We had a really good team. I thought one of the strengths of our team was our bullpen. We had a really good bullpen,” he said.

“(Rick) Forney was our pitching coach then and he was really good. Hal, obviously managing in the big leagues as long as he did, he was a good resource to have. It was a class organization. It was run well from the top to the bottom.”

But Sherrill wouldn’t get a chance to help the Goldeyes in their post-season run the next season. His solid numbers quickly turned into spectacular ones. In 2003, Sherrill boasted a 1.13 ERA and struck out 30 batters in only 16 innings of work.

At the midway point of the season, Goldeyes manager Hal Lanier called Sherrill to tell him the New York Yankees wanted to sign him and send him to their High A minor league team. Sherrill took a minute to call his dad and his agent to get their opinion and they assured him he should jump on the opportunity.

But by the time Sherrill called back, there was another offer on the table — the Seattle Mariners. They wanted to send Sherrill to Double-A. Sherrill didn’t bother making any phone calls — he took the Seattle deal.

“Oh gosh. A lot,” said Sherrill, when asked how Winnipeg helped him land a deal with the Mariners organization.

“(Rick) Forney was our pitching coach then and he was really good. Hal, obviously managing in the big leagues as long as he did, he was a good resource to have. It was a class organization. It was run well from the top to the bottom.

“There was a lot of guys that bounced around in the minor leagues and even had a couple cups of coffee (in the majors) and stuff like that. There was a lot of guys there to learn stuff from and I just tried to soak it all in… It just kind of all came together.”

It came together for Sherrill in affiliated ball as well. He put up even better numbers in Double-A, as Sherrill had a sparkling 0.33 ERA in 27 innings of work. The next two seasons, Sherrill split time between Triple A ball and the Mariners before finally cementing himself as a full-time major leaguer.

Prior to the 2008 season, Seattle traded Sherrill, outfielder Adam Jones and three prospects to the Baltimore Orioles for Canadian pitcher Erik Bedard. It ended up being quite the coup for Baltimore as both Sherrill and Jones turned into all-star players. Sherrill became Baltimore’s closer and he represented the American League at the all-star game in 2008.

Five years removed from sitting on a wooden bench in left field at Shaw Park as a member of the Goldeyes’ bullpen, Sherrill was on the mound at the final all-star game played at the old Yankee Stadium. The game went a record 15 innings and Sherrill pitched part of the 12th, and all of the 13th and 14th innings without giving up a run. The American League ended up beating the National League 4-3.

“I don’t mean this to toot my own horn, but I think I’m a perfect example,” he said. “A fat kid from Memphis who just kept trying to work hard at it, figure out what he’s doing and finally I got to where I kind of knew what I was doing.”

“It’s kind of like one of those Disney movies like the one they did on Jim Morris. Not quite as big as that though,” said Sherrill with a laugh.

He considers talking to Cal Ripken Jr. before the all-star game as his favourite career memory.

“I don’t think I want them doing a Disney special on me. But that’s kind of what you think of. Somebody that came from nothing that got to be a part of something like that. That’s really special and hopefully my kids can understand that and one day, maybe they can tell their kids about it.”

Sherrill is one of only three former Goldeyes pitchers who went to the majors and became all-stars. Jeff Zimmerman did it in 1999 with the Texas Rangers and Brandon Kintzler, who currently plays for the Miami Marlins, made it in 2017 as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

Sherrill went on to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves before returning to Seattle for his final MLB stop in 2012 at the age of 35. He appeared in 442 major league games over the span of nine seasons, finishing with a career 3.77 ERA, 56 saves and a 19-17 record. According to Sportrac.com, Sherrill earned more than US$11 million in the majors.

Today, he’s enjoying retirement and keeps busy by travelling with his wife Lindsay and their three kids — Dalton, Bridget and Brock.

Sherrill knows what’s it like to be an independent ballplayer who nobody believes in. He hopes his story can serve as another reminder to those players that not only can they make it to the next level, they can succeed there.

“I don’t mean this to toot my own horn, but I think I’m a perfect example,” he said. “A fat kid from Memphis who just kept trying to work hard at it, figure out what he’s doing and finally I got to where I kind of knew what I was doing.”

 

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31