Wakefield rues the one that got away

Into the gathering gloom of a long New England northeaster, White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko hit a towering fly ball to left field off Tim Wakefield to effectively eliminate the Red Sox from the postseason and give the White Sox a chance to end an eight-decade World Series drought.

In fact, the White Sox won their first postseason series since 1917.

The pitch, a knuckleball that stayed up and in, said Wakefield somberly after the 5-3 loss, was the only mistake he remembers making in his 5 1/3 innings.

''Yeah, I got it up and in, and I thought he might pull it foul, but he's a good hitter, and . . . "

The ''and" was that Konerko not only gave Chicago a 4-2 lead, but quieted a crowd still delirious over the aerial show by their own offensive wrecking team of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, who brought the Red Sox back from a 2-0 deficit with back-to-back homers in the fourth inning.

But in the sixth, White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye worked a walk and Konerko, on the 1-and-1 count, blasted Wakefield's offering over the left-field wall. Wakefield got Carl Everett to ground to first base for the first out, and although his pitch count was low (71), Red Sox manager Terry Francona brought in Chad Bradford.

Wakefield allowed four runs and six hits but the Red Sox offense, sans Ortiz and Ramirez, couldn't pick him up.

But Wakefield refused to blame the offense. ''It was me," he said. ''I made one bad pitch. I made that one mistake and that was the difference in the ballgame today. They scored a couple of runs in the third. They hit some balls into holes. You have to tip your hat to them. I made the mistake to Konerko . . . What other word can you use but disappointed. To battle your butts off to get to the postseason, and then lose three to the White Sox, of course it's disappointing."

Wakefield thought the Red Sox had stepped up to its many challenges this season just to get into the postseason.

''We went through a lot this year as a team, battling guys who were getting hurt," Wakefield said. ''But then having guys who stepped into those roles and doing great jobs, I don't think anyone should hang their head over what we did this season. We made it into the postseason and naturally you want to win, but we just weren't able to get all the way."

While praising the White Sox, Wakefield added that a short series does not always favor the better team, that luck and chances often factor into the result.

''I don't know," he said. ''I think they're a real good baseball team, but I think we're better. Sometimes it's not just the best team that wins, but the hot team. We hit a lot of balls right on the button, but right to people. But then they got some of the breaks they needed, and that's what happens. It's just unfortunate that it had to end this way."

Wakefield, who tied Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe for the team record with his eighth appearance in the postseason, acknowledged the team will change in the offseason.

''Unfortunately that's just the nature of the business, and the executives upstairs make those decisions," Wakefield said. ''Names change, faces change. After you do battle with a bunch of guys for a couple of years, it's going to be sad when some of them move on."

And although the Red Sox championship aspirations halted last night, the memories of last season will never fade.

''Whatever happens from here, knowing we won the World Series, that's something you keep forever," Wakefield said. ''You can take that to the grave with you."