Fort Myers, Fla. ? Tony Graffanino loves playing for the Boston Red Sox. Even his costly postseason error makes him want to stay.

Now the second baseman expects to be playing elsewhere this season after the best year of his career.

The Red Sox obtained Mark Loretta from San Diego to play second, where Graffanino started 50 of his 51 games after being obtained from Kansas City on July 19.

“I’ve loved every second of it,” Graffanino said, “but, as a professional, I want to play, especially after getting an opportunity to play last year as much as I did and feeling like I did pretty well. I want to continue that.”

A steady fielder, the 33-year-old Graffanino committed three errors during the regular season with Boston. Then came the second game of the AL division series against Chicago.

He let Juan Uribe’s slow bouncer on a potential double play roll through his legs. Tadahito Iguchi followed with a three-run homer off David Wells for a 5-4 lead. That was the final score, and Chicago went on to sweep the three-game series before winning the World Series.

Graffanino’s teammates rallied around him.

“If you’re going to point a finger, you point it at me,” Wells said after the game.

When Graffanino was introduced at Fenway Park before the third game, he received a very loud ovation.

“I was moved beyond belief,” he said. “Probably, if I allowed it to happen, I would have cried.”

He wants to keep hearing cheers from passionate Red Sox fans.

“I think that’s what’ll make it even harder to go because I know how great these fans are and I know that they like me or took a liking to me,” he said. “Boston quickly became a place where I felt like I was definitely comfortable and felt like I had found a home.”

Graffanino reached the majors in 1996 with Atlanta and moved to Tampa Bay, the White Sox and Kansas City before joining Boston. A .268 career hitter, he hit a combined .309 with seven homers for the Royals and Red Sox with career-highs of 110 games and 379 at-bats.