FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Boston’s bosses weren’t the only ones who wanted the ball that Doug Mientkiewicz caught to wrap up the Red Sox first World Series championship in 86 years.

The man who threw it to him for the final out – and played a much bigger role in winning the title than the backup first baseman – also asked for it.

“I’d have definitely liked to have it back,” closer Keith Foulke said. “When we got back to Boston, I asked him about it and I didn’t get it. So that’s the end of that.”

Not quite.

At first, Foulke joked Wednesday about the ball that Mientkiewicz put in a safe deposit box, then agreed to loan to the Red Sox for a year while a decision is reached on who owns it.

“It doesn’t matter,” Foulke said with a smile. “I’ve got the ball anyway. I don’t care what they say. I’ve got the ball.”

Major League baseball didn’t authenticate the ball as the one Mientkiewicz caught until the next day after Boston had returned home. Mientkiewicz said that after the final game, he gave it to his wife Jodi, who put it in her purse.

The Red Sox won that game 3-0 in St. Louis on Oct. 27 to complete a four-game sweep and clinch their first championship since 1918. The final pitch was hit by shortstop Edgar Renteria, now with Boston, to Foulke, who flipped it to Mientkiewicz.

That set off a wild celebration in which Mientkiewicz – ball clutched firmly in glove – jumped on Foulke and catcher Jason Varitek.

On Wednesday, Foulke was peppered with questions about it after his informal workout one day before Red Sox pitchers and catchers are due to report. Their first official workout is Friday.

Had he talked to Mientkiewicz, who was traded to the New York Mets, during the offseason?

“No. Next question,” he said.

Did he expect to get the ball after finishing all four games, getting a win and a save?

“I didn’t really think about it at the time,” Foulke said. “After he caught it, it was like there are other things going through my mind.”

Should Mientkiewicz, who appeared as a defensive replacement in all four games, have been more considerate?

“That’s enough,” Foulke said. “I didn’t get the ball and that’s it.”

Mientkiewicz’s agent, Greg Landry, did not return a call seeking comment.

Since the Red Sox got the ball from Mientkiewicz on Feb. 3, it has been viewed by groups around New England along with the World Series trophy.

“We can all debate what baseball etiquette would say about the rightful disposition of the ball,” said Charles Steinberg, Boston’s vice president for public affairs. “But the ideal disposition of the ball, we think, is the one that’s happened. The ball is going on tour.”

Foulke said he asked for the ball only once and, had he gotten it, would have put it on his mantel and let the team borrow it. That never happened and on Wednesday he said all the chatter about a single baseball was “a tired issue.”

Many fans would agree. But the Red Sox did milk the occasion of the ball’s arrival at to Fenway Park, having it delivered in a Brinks truck, whose two guards strode along a red carpet on the sidewalk to a brief ceremony.

Now the Red Sox are looking forward to defending their championship, the return of Curt Schilling from ankle surgery and the addition of pitcher David Wells to the bunch of “idiots” Johnny Damon said were on the team.

“When Friday comes around, I’ll be excited,” Foulke said, “but until then I’m officially still on vacation and I don’t want it to end. I’m excited about the season. We’re going to have, I think, probably a better ballclub than we did last year.”

The Red Sox lost free agent Pedro Martinez to the Mets and Derek Lowe to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Starter Tim Wakefield was Martinez’s teammate for seven seasons with Boston.

“He was a good friend of mine and a good teammate of mine,” Wakefield said. “I was sad to see him leave, but I also understand, being in the game as long as I have, that that’s the business side of baseball and it’s unfortunate.”

Mientkiewicz was traded because the Red Sox preferred to keep Kevin Millar as their regular first baseman and clubhouse cutup. The latter role may be more difficult to fill now that Martinez is gone.

Perhaps Wells can fill those shoes. The offbeat lefty is expected to report Thursday with his pinpoint control and wacky sense of humor.

Foulke, though, is serious about baseball.

“When I’m not pitching I’m probably not happy,” he said. “I love to throw a lot and the more I throw the better I am, I think.”

And, no, he doesn’t regret throwing to Mientkiewicz for the last out when he probably could have run over and tagged the bag himself with the ball squeezed securely in his own glove.

“It’s not my job to run the ball to first base,” Foulke said. “My job is to throw it over there and let him do his job.

“We got him out. That’s all that matters.”

AP-ES-02-16-05 1910EST