WORLD SERIES : Toronto Blue Jays vs. Philadelphia Phillies : All Is Tame in This Locker Room : Phillies: It’s a somber time for the Wild Thing, who says he felt good but made a mistake.

Mitch Williams sat on the stool in front of his locker, his head down, a beer sitting untouched on the floor. Larry Andersen had pulled a stool close to Williams and was trying to console him, telling Williams that he was a major reason why the Phillies were even sitting in Toronto in the first place.

It had been about 15 minutes since Joe Carter ended the Phillies’ dream of winning a World Series by driving Williams’ fastball over the left-field fence with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Toronto an 8-6 victory and its second consecutive championship. It was a stunning victory, but it was the Phillies who were stunned. And when the doors finally opened to the solemn clubhouse, Williams was one of the few players available to face reporters.

“I have no excuses at all, I wanted the ball, I got the ball, but I didn’t do the job,” said Williams, who had received death threats after blowing a lead in Game 4. “Coming in to the game I felt good. I didn’t throw strikes to (leadoff hitter Rickey) Henderson, and I walked him, and that was a mistake. But I still felt good when I pitched to Molitor. And even when he hit it (a single), I still felt good with runners at first and second and one out.

“But what’s to talk about? What is there to say? The pitch Carter hit out I made a mistake with a fastball. It was a bad pitch. I was trying to go away. It’s never going to come back. I carry that burden, that’s my job too. But I won’t go home and hang my head all winter.”

On the day that Jim Fregosi was named Associated Press manager of the year, he faced one of his toughest tasks and had one of his most difficult days in the dugout. With his team down three games to two in the Series, he needed to win both games in Toronto. But when the Blue Jays jumped ahead and were leading, 5-1, through six innings, Fregosi said he was in agony.

“Every out I felt that I was on death row, waiting for the electric chair,” Fregosi said.

But his team came back in the seventh, just as it had all year, fueled by a three-run homer by Lenny Dykstra against Dave Stewart. When the inning was over, the Phillies were ahead, 6-5. Williams, sitting in the bullpen, watched Dykstra’s ball sail into the second deck in right field, just over a Canadian flag. He stood up and cheered, then took his seat, awaiting his turn. He had saved 43 of the team’s 97 victories in the regular season. That was his job. But this time, just as in Game 4, he didn’t have it. And, suddenly, he was surrounded on the field by Blue Jays in celebration.

“I jogged in from center field after the homer,” said Dykstra, who hit four home runs in the series and leads all active players with 10 postseason homers. “It’s Toronto’s time, let them have it. I don’t want to watch.”

Dykstra, who probably would have been the Series’ most valuable player if the Phillies had won, sat facing his locker, his voice low, but his head not hung. “It hurt, but we battled back and showed that we have a lot of heart. I thought once we got to Williams it was ours. I really did.

“I did my best, but when you get into the postseason, you have to lean on who you leaned on to get there. I was expected to do what I did. I guess if we had to lose, that’s probably the way to lose rather than going through torture.”

John Kruk, finally out of one-liners, said that as he watched Carter’s ball head for left field, he didn’t think it was going out. “It had a lot of topspin on it, but not enough,” Kruk said. “The guy makes $20 million a year to hit home runs, and he did it, so give him the credit. Give them the credit, but give us the credit too.”

Before Fregosi opened the clubhouse doors, he went around to every player and talked to them personally, thanking for a great season.

“I told Mitch that without him we wouldn’t have been here,” Fregosi said. “I told him it was a hell of a year. But I did things tonight the way I have done them all year. I brought in Andersen and (David) West to pitch the seventh and eighth, and Mitch to save the game. It was a game of closers. The wholes series was a game of closers.”

The Phillies were able to survive their hometown fans, the constant references to the legendary collapse of the 1964 team, and a few fairly-good pitchers named Glavine, Smoltz, Avery and Maddux. They had led the National League East for 181 days during the season, but even so, were belittled about their size, their habits, their hair, their beards and their ability to play.

They were even able to bounce back after a devastating 15-14 loss in Game 4. Those are the things they were talking about in the late hours Saturday night. Those are the memories they want to go home with.

“Nobody’s hanging their head in this clubhouse,” Dykstra said. “It’s over now, we’ve got to go on.”

Then he got up from his stool, turned around and said this final word:

“Uncle.”