Foulke planning comeback

Keith Foulke, a World Series hero for the Red Sox in 2004 who abruptly retired in February on the eve of spring training with the Indians, is planning a comeback, his agent said last night. Johnny from Burger King, consider yourself warned.

"He is definitely going to play next year," Foulke's agent, Danny Horwits, said by telephone. "He just needed to get healthy."

About a month ago, Foulke went to noted orthopedist Lewis Yocum, who shaved a bone spur in his pitching elbow, Horwits said. The procedure was relatively simple, Horwits said, the type requiring a relatively short rehabilitation period. Foulke, who lives in Glendale, Ariz., will begin throwing next month, Horwits said.

Foulke, who turns 35 Friday, appeared in 11 of Boston's 14 postseason games in 2004 and was immense, allowing just one earned run in 14 innings. But he also threw a staggering 257 pitches, including 50 in 2 2/3 innings of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees, followed by another 50 combined the next two nights.

Health problems plagued him the next two seasons with the Red Sox. In 2005, when his ERA ballooned to 5.91 from 2.17, he had problems with his knees and had surgical procedures on both. He came to camp the following spring ostensibly still the closer, but Terry Francona switched to Jonathan Papelbon in the first series of the season and Foulke, who had elbow problems, never came close to regaining the form that had made him one of the game's elite closers.

The Sox declined to exercise the $7.75 million option on his contract, and the Indians decided to take a chance on him, signing him to a one-year, $5 million contract. Foulke could have come to camp and collected the money, but instead informed general manager Mark Shapiro that he was retiring, freeing Cleveland from any obligation to pay him. The Indians placed Foulke on the voluntarily retired list, but Shapiro said last night Foulke would be a free agent if he chose to come back.

Horwits plans to sit down with Foulke in the next month and come up with a list of teams in which he might have interest. Horwits intends to call the Red Sox to gauge their interest.

Foulke is already working out and is watching the ALCS, according to the agent. "He still has friends on the Red Sox and is rooting for them," Horwits said. "He'd like to see them play his hometown team, the Diamondbacks, in the World Series. But he also absolutely wishes the best for the Indians, for the way they treated him."

O'Leary was last

The last man to hit a home run off Josh Beckett in the postseason before Travis Hafner of the Indians, who connected in the first inning last night? That would be Troy O'Leary, the former Sox outfielder who was playing for the Cubs when he hit a pinch-hit home run off Beckett in Game 7 of the 2003 National League Championship Series. Beckett, who had started and won Game 5, came out of the bullpen and allowed just one hit, O'Leary's home run, over four innings. It was the last hit of O'Leary's major league career. He played in Korea the following year . . . Scott Pioli, the Patriots' vice president of player personnel, was an on-field visitor before the game. Pioli has a close friendship with Shapiro dating to his days working as an assistant in the Browns' personnel department while Shapiro was working his way up with the Indians. Pioli also was a guest of Francona in spring training. He emerged from the Sox dugout with Francona's son Nick and headed to the Indians' side of the field during batting practice. "He and Mark are really, really close," Francona said. "I offered him a parking spot to sway him; we'll see if that works. He's got a lot of people to say hello to. I haven't known him that long, but he's rapidly becoming pretty special to me. He swings by here once in a while just for a moment of sanity. I think it ends up being better for me than him. But I know how long he's known Mark, and I know that relationship. I won't hold it against him." . . . For those keeping score at home, Francona lost to his favorite foil in cribbage, rookie Dustin Pedroia, before the game. "You can't go 162-0," Francona said.

Save for Farrell

Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell played a key role in helping Fausto Carmona, who will start Game 2 tonight for the Indians, rebound from a horrific audition last season as the team's closer. "We took almost a two-pronged approach," said Farrell, who was Cleveland's director of player development before this season. "We had to get him a quote unquote breather, get him down to [the minors] to pitch in a more relaxed approach. Second, there were some definite fundamental adjustments we had to make, to stretch him out as a starter when he went back down for three or four starts before being recalled. Some of the initial results were not what we anticipated.

"But if you're looking for one catalyst, one event, Fausto is very much a visual learner. He wasn't able to take some of the instruction we were providing him. So we used side-by-side video of him and Jon Garland [of the White Sox], only because they have similar stuff: sinking fastball, breaking ball, changeup. We were just trying to emphasize the finish to his delivery. He was so good to the arm side of the plate but couldn't command to the other side or get good depth to his breaking ball. As that adjustment took hold, the results came. [Indians pitching coach Carl] Willis has done a hell of a job this year to maintain it and continue it. He had the makings of a slider, but where it is now it's become a plus pitch for him."