Sox pitcher comes to terms with Boone’s home run

MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) – The fear gripped Tim Wakefield just minutes after he gave up the game-winning home run in Game 7 of the ALCS.

The Boston Red Sox pitcher thought he would be forever remembered as just another player who brought more heartbreak to legions of Red Sox fans for blowing a chance at a World Series championship.

But less than three months later, Wakefield has come to terms with the ordeal.

“I was terrified that I would be remembered like (Bill) Buckner,” said Wakefield in a wide-ranging interview with The Boston Sunday Globe from his Melbourne, Fla. home. “I was terrified that I wouldn’t

be able to show my face in Boston again. But I soon realized that wasn’t close to being the case.”

Buckner was the Red Sox first baseman who has never been forgiven for letting a grounder trickle between his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series when the Red Sox were a strike away from winning. The New York Mets won the game, then the series.

Wakefield gave up an 11th inning home run to Yankees third basemen Aaron Boone on Oct. 17 that gave New York a 6-5 win and sent the team to the World Series.

Wakefield, 37, knew the ball was gone as soon as Boone hit it.

“Yeah, I had a pretty good idea,” the right-handed knuckleballer said. “I kind of turned around, which I normally don’t do. I didn’t watch it hit the seats, but as soon as he hit it I pretty much knew it was out.”

Wakefield said he cried in the locker room after the game, but he made it through with support from his teammates, Red Sox ownership and management, fans, and his new wife, Stacey.

“I went on with my life,” Wakefield said. “I don’t think it’s going to affect me. Sometimes bad things can happen. As long as you go out there and try hard, that’s all you can do.”

Mike Timlin and Jason Varitek embraced him after the game.

He then went to principal owner John Henry and said, “I’m sorry,” Wakefield said.

“It’s not your fault,” Wakefield recalled the owner replying. “Don’t worry about it. I’m proud of you.”

He and his wife stayed in the Boston area for about a week after the game, and Wakefield prepared for the worst from fans. Instead, “I got a lot of thank yous,” he said.

Wakefield may have been spared the rancor of fans because of manager Grady Little’s decision to stick with a tiring Pedro Martinez on the mound.

“It’s not Grady’s fault,” Wakefield said. “It’s not anybody’s fault. Do I wish he had taken Pedro out? Yes. Would it have changed the outcome of the game? I don’t know.”

Wakefield, who will enter his 10th season with the Red Sox this spring, said the team’s new ownership and front office have made an enormous difference in the attitude of the

team.

“Ten years I’ve been playing in the big leagues, 15 years I’ve been playing professional baseball, this (season) was the most fun I’ve ever had in my whole career,” he said.

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino and general manager Theo Epstein have brought in players who have improved the team’s chemistry, at the same time ridding the team of malcontents.

“Our new ownership has turned the organization around 180 degrees,” he said. “They

are by far not only the best ownership group but the best people.”