Boston ? General manager Theo Epstein knew the Red Sox were headed to the World Series.

With five outs to go and a three-run lead Thursday night, his mind drifted to all those Boston teams that came so close, “all those great teams that seemingly couldn’t get past the Yankees,” Epstein said.

“I was thinking about those guys and how sweet it would be for us to finally beat the Yankees and win one for those guys,” he said Friday. “Then it disappeared real quickly.”

Instead of preparing for a World Series opener at Fenway Park, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was kicking a soccer ball in the outfield Friday with fiancee Mia Hamm.

Inside, players emptied their lockers barely 12 hours after blowing a 5-2 lead and losing the seventh game of the AL championship series to New York, 6-5, in 11 innings.

On the floor by Kevin Millar’s chair were two equipment bags. One had the logo of the Red Sox, the other that of the Florida Marlins, Millar’s former team. It was the World Series the Red Sox came so close to being in.

Instead, the Marlins visit the Yankees tonight, while the Red Sox marked their 85th season without a World Series title.

All because manager Grady Little let Pedro Martinez stay in the game too long, especially with Boston’s much-maligned bullpen pitching very well. At least that’s the view that dominated Boston talk radio Friday.

“He chickened out,” one host said of Little’s decision to let Martinez, who wanted to stay in the game after a difficult seventh inning, have his way.

“The worst manager in the history of baseball,” one caller said.

In Boston, Little’s records of 93-69 and 95-67 in his two seasons aren’t good enough for demanding fans.

Red Sox officials declined comment on whether they would renew the option on Little’s contract for next season. Little declined comment.

A decision is likely “pretty quickly,” Epstein said.

Players are firmly in Little’s corner.

“He’s a great man,” left fielder Manny Ramirez said Friday. “I think he should be back.”