Wakefield has surgery, looks ahead to next season

BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox right-hander Tim Wakefield wants to pitch as long as possible after undergoing back surgery.

The veteran knuckleballer said he has no plans to retire after Wednesday’s operation for a herniated disk that derailed his first All-Star season.

Retirement “never crossed my mind. I was fully confident in what our doctors were telling me,” Wakefield said in a conference call Thursday. “I’m not very sore at all, so I’m looking forward to getting to my rehab and get ready for next year.”

Wakefield, 43, had an outstanding first half of the season and was picked for the All-Star game for the first time. But he had no wins in limited action after the break and finished the year with an 11-5 record and a 4.58 ERA.

“It was very frustrating,” he said. “I was doing everything possible to try and stay on the field and try to get healthy and try to prove that I could maybe pitch in postseason and it just didn’t work out, but I have no regrets on the way we handled things.”

The Red Sox were swept by the Los Angeles Angels in the AL division series.

Wakefield is 189-162 with a 4.33 ERA in 17 seasons, including 175 victories in 15 years with Boston. He said he wants to pass Roger Clemens and Cy Young for the franchise record of 192 and would like to get to 200. He’s working under an arrangement in which the Red Sox have the option to renew his contract on a year-to-year basis for $4 million annually and said he’d like to pitch as long as he’s physically able and the team wants him.

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