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NEW YORK — This time was going to be the last time.

Kerry Wood was going to throw one final time before making the call to Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry. He was through.

The elbow wasn't responding to treatment or rehabilitation. And Wood was waving the white flag. Retirement. That was all that was left. That, and another surgery, which Wood was scheduled to have just so he could, hopefully, be able to one day play catch with his kids.

No more lost hopes. No more shattered dreams. His days with the Cubs were over.

After this one last throw.

So, on a May afternoon in 2007, Wood went out and played catch. Surprisingly, the elbow felt good. Real good. No pain whatsoever. But that had happened to Wood dozens of times before. One day he'd throw and the next he wouldn't be able to toss the baseball 30 feet. But the next day, he threw again. The elbow felt wonderful.

Wood made the call. But instead of telling Hendry he was done, he told him there was no pain in his arm. Wood began doing rehab work at the Cubs' extended spring training camp in Mesa, Ariz. Each time he pitched, the elbow felt stronger. And Wood got more optimistic that, maybe, his career wasn't quite over.

"It was hard to get excited but we kept going," Wood said. "And three weeks later I was making some rehab starts and feeling better than I had in two years, so we stuck around."

Call it a miracle. Call it fate. Just over a year ago, Kerry Wood was one day away from retirement

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and another surgery. On Tuesday night, he stood under the bright lights at Yankee Stadium as a member of the National League All-Star team.

"It's great. Even though I'm not pitching (Wood has a blister), I'm taking everything in. I've never been to Yankee Stadium before," he said. "I'm having fun and I'm enjoying what I'm doing. It (another injury) doesn't even cross my mind. I go out and know what I'm going to do and I enjoy it. If anything happens, it happens, but I don't think it's going to happen."

As Chicago stands atop the National League's Central Division at the break, Wood has been one key reasons for the Cubs' success. Winning the closer's job in spring training, Wood has recorded 24 saves and a 3.02 ERA. For someone who's undergone three surgeries since exploding onto the Major League scene in 1998 with a 20-strikeout game against the Houston Astros, Wood's comeback is remarkable.

"It's unbelievable what happened. It makes all this more enjoyable," he said.

In the spring of 1999, Wood had Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

That was his first trip to the disabled list. There have been many.

In 2004, he missed over two months with a strained triceps muscle.

In 2005, he had season-ending knee surgery in August.

In 2006, there was a second knee surgery in April. And a partially torn rotator cuff in June.

In 2007, there was the elbow.

"My back was up against the wall, but my therapist convinced me to keep up the fight. He and my wife were the two most instrumental people in telling me not to give up," Wood said. "Those were the only two people that didn't give up on me and thought I could do it."

Even Wood had his doubts.

"I was two days after from having surgery and one day away from retiring. That was it," he said. "It was a Monday and I was going to call and tell Jim I was going to be done and Wednesday I had the surgery set up. I felt like I was done and didn't want to do the rehab anymore, not getting results, but I decided to take one more chance before I made the phone call and it worked out."

The comeback started on May 21. By mid-July Wood was pitching for the Class AA Peoria Chiefs. On Aug. 5, he was back in a Cubs uniform, pitching against the New York Mets and throwing in the mid-90s without any pain. He went into spring training unsure of what his role with the Cubs would be. But it didn't take long to figure out what Wood was going to do.

"When we came to camp, we didn't know who our closer was going to be and Kerry was one of the three that we considered," manager Lou Piniella said. "It became evident early on that he was throwing the ball really well and that he would be a strong consideration. We didn't know about his durability, back to back days, so we had to wait a while but it didn't take us long to see that he could do the job. He's been a big part of what we've done so far."

Make that a huge part.

"We've had a great first half and we're all excited," Wood said. "The fans are excited, but there's a lot of baseball left."

Hopefully, there's a lot left for Kerry Wood too.

Contact Chris Elsberry at celsberry@ctpost.com