ANAHEIM, Calif. –– As Tuesday’s All-Star epic wound into the early hours of the morning, viewers were riveted and players watched intently from the top step of their respective dugouts.

When the American League finally emerged with its 4-3 victory in the 15th inning, a classic had been played and a splendid time was had by all.

Except for the managers.

In the National League dugout, Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was squeezing the last inning or so from his available pitchers and warning Mets third baseman David Wright that he might be next.

For the American League, Red Sox manager Terry Francona was wondering to whom he would turn if Scott Kazmir had to be sent out for the 16th and had his own outfielder, All-Star MVP J.D. Drew, waiting in the wings.

Fun? Maybe for everyone else. But not for Francona, who was visited by a MLB representative in the late innings and reminded him that the game would be played until a winner emerged and to manage his pichers accordingly.

“If you were watching on TV,” said Francona, “you were saying, ‘I wouldn’t want to be that guy.’ Well, I was that guy.”

When the winning run crossed the plate, Francona jumped for joy and embraced a member of his coaching staff, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, “more out of relief than anything else.”

In addition to extending his league’s undefeated string to a dozen years, Francona also avoided what no one wanted: another tie, six years after the game had ended in extra innings in Milwaukee, bringing embarrassment to the sport.

Sympathetic to his plight, commissioner Bud Selig called Francona yesterday and offered his thanks and praise.

“It was a very nice conversation,” said Francona, “He was very appreciative and I was appreciative of the call.”

During the talk, Selig asked Francona to provide some ideas on how MLB can avoid such problems in the future.

“They’re always looking for ways to make [the game] better,” said Francona.

While Francona didn’t offer concrete examples, he did send Selig an e-mail yesterday that included some general suggestions, including an expanded pitching staff and pitchers invited to participate on an emergency basis.

He also hinted that baseball could help itself –– and future All-Star managers –– by enforcing the rule that makes pitchers available if they’re selected, even if their respective teams and managers ask that they not be used because of short rest.

Finally, Francona suggested adding a taxi squad with a couple of set-up relievers, who are accustomed to regular work and could be activated in the event that a game got extended into extra innings.

As it was, Francona tried to get as much as he could from his pitchers, using some relievers for more than a full inning.

When Kansas City Royals reliever Joaquim Soria came off the field after his first inning of work and waved to his family in the stands, Francona had to quickly disabuse him of the notion that his night was over.

“I told him, ‘Quit waving, big boy – you’re not done,’ ” Francona said, laughing at the memory.

For all the anxiety he faced in the final few innings, Francona came away struck by the competitiveness of the game and the intensity of the players.

“If MLB set out to have this game mean something,” he said, “they got one. The players were into it, right to the end. It sure didn’t have an exhibition game feel to it.”

After the game, as Francona, his family and staff returned to Boston by train, arriving at 7:30 a.m., he could more fully enjoy the game and its result.

His team had been victorious, a disastrous scenario was avoided, and not incidentally, he heads into the second half of the season knowing that should his team qualify for the World Series for the third time in the last five years, it will do so with home field advantage in hand.

smcadam@projo.com