Josh Bard

Joshua David Bard (born March 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He is the bullpen coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners from 2002 to 2011. Bard was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed during his playing career.

Josh Bard
Bard with the Washington Nationals
Los Angeles Dodgers – No. 54
Catcher / Coach
Born: (1978-03-30) March 30, 1978
Ithaca, New York
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 23, 2002, for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
September 17, 2011, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Batting average.254
Home runs39
Runs batted in220
Teams
As player

As coach

Josh Bard
Medal record
Men’s baseball
Representing  United States
Baseball World Cup
2001 Taipei National team

Early life and personal

Bard was born in Ithaca, New York.[1] His family moved to Elizabeth, Colorado, when he was an infant. He attended Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, Colorado. He then attended Texas Tech University,[2] where he was a three-time All-American while playing for Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Career

Cleveland Indians

On August 23, 2002, Bard made his MLB debut against the Seattle Mariners and hit a walk-off home run, becoming the second player to accomplish this feat in a debut since Billy Parker.[3] In 2003, Bard posted a .244 average with 8 home runs and 36 RBI in 91 games played.

In 2004, Bard spent the first half of the season on the disabled list due to an abdominal injury, and then spent nearly the rest of the season in the minors. In 2005, Bard returned to the Indians roster, backing up Víctor Martínez.

Boston Red Sox

In January 2006, Bard was acquired by the Boston Red Sox, along with outfielder Coco Crisp and reliever David Riske, for reliever Guillermo Mota, third base prospect Andy Marte, and catcher Kelly Shoppach. He became the Red Sox's backup catcher during spring training 2006 following the retirement of John Flaherty.

As a member of the Boston Red Sox in April 2006, his primary duties were catching knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield. In the beginning of the season, this proved to be a challenging task, as Bard gave up 3 passed balls in his first appearance for the Red Sox on April 5, 2006. In an April 26, 2006, game against the Cleveland Indians, Bard gave up 4 passed balls, giving him a total of 10 passed balls in his first 5 games.

San Diego Padres
Bard with the Padres.

A few days later, Bard was traded along with Cla Meredith to the San Diego Padres for Doug Mirabelli.[4] Mirabelli, who had been traded by the Red Sox to the Padres for Mark Loretta during the offseason, was experienced at catching Tim Wakefield.[4]

A lifetime .240 hitter before joining the Padres, Bard hit .338 in 231 at-bats the rest of the season as the backup to Mike Piazza.

Bard was behind the plate on August 4, 2007, for a home game against the San Francisco Giants. He was catching for pitcher Clay Hensley when Hensley gave up Barry Bonds's 755th home run, which tied Bonds with Hank Aaron for most career home runs.

Bard's hot hitting did not continue into the 2008 season. He began the season as the Padres' starting catcher, with Rob Bowen as his backup. In June, Bowen was traded to the Chicago Cubs for catcher Michael Barrett.[5] In October 2008, Bard left the Padres and became a free agent.[6]

Boston Red Sox

On January 2, 2009, Bard returned to the Red Sox with a one-year, $1.6 million contract, which included a $3 million club option for 2010.[7] However, on March 18, he was released.[8][9]

Washington Nationals

On March 21, 2009 Bard signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals and was invited to Spring Training.[10] He played in 90 games for the Nationals, hitting .230.

Seattle Mariners

On December 28, 2009, Bard signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners.

Bard has his contract purchased by Seattle on June 29, 2011.[11] He played in 26 games with the Mariners, hitting .210. He elected free agency on October 30. On August 13, 2011, he was involved in a controversial play against the Boston Red Sox. Dustin Pedroia hit a fly ball to Ichiro Suzuki, who caught the ball as Jacoby Ellsbury tagged up from third and tried to score. Ichiro, who was known for throwing runners out at home, threw a strike to Bard, who collided with Ellsbury. He held onto the ball and got hurt on the play. Shortly after, he dropped the ball. Ellsbury was initially called safe. Eric Wedge came out to argue. The umpires discussed it and soon called Ellsbury out. Terry Francona was ejected for arguing the call.

Los Angeles Dodgers

He signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2011. He was released by the Dodgers on March 29, 2012.[12] But later re-signed with them and was assigned to the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes. He was the backup catcher to Tim Federowicz at Albuquerque and appeared in 45 games with a .331 batting average. Bard singled in his final career at bat against the Omaha Storm Chasers in the Isotopes season-ending playoff loss on September 9, 2012.

Coaching

Bard retired after the season and chose to remain with the Dodgers as a Special Assistant.[13] He became the Dodgers major league bullpen coach for the 2016 season.[14]

The New York Yankees hired Bard as their bench coach for the 2018 season under new manager Aaron Boone.[15] Bard served as acting manager on September 2, due to Boone serving a one-game suspension and again the following season on July 19.[16] On November 11, 2019, Bard left his bench coach position in order to find a job closer to his Colorado home and was replaced by infield coach Carlos Mendoza.[17]

On December 9, 2019, the Dodgers announced that Bard would return as their bullpen coach for the 2020 season.[18]

Personal life

Although Bard was born in Ithaca, New York, his family moved to Colorado when he was five-months old.[19] His wife, Lindsey, is a teacher and they have been married for 10 years.[19] Together they have three children.[19]

His brother, Mike Bard, is an MLB personal coach,[20] was a collegiate coach for 13 years,[21] and is currently a private instructor in the Denver area at Bardo's Diamond Sports in Parker.[22] He is, however, not related to Colorado Rockies pitcher Daniel Bard.

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References
  1. Albano, George (December 30, 2017). "Yesterday's Stars: Yankees' new bench coach has connection to Norwalk". The Hour. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  2. "Q & A with Josh Bard | Rainiers". Milb.com. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  3. Mariners sign veteran catcher
  4. Sullivan, Tim (September 19, 2006). "Towers: 'These guys don't miss (Mirabelli)'". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  5. Muskart, Carrie (June 20, 2007). "Cubs deal Barrett to Padres". MLB.com. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  6. Brock, Corey (October 6, 2008). "Padres part ways with Bard, Estes". Retrieved October 6, 2008.
  7. "Red Sox Look To Re-Sign Catcher Bard". AHN. December 30, 2008. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
  8. Finn, Chad (March 18, 2009). "Sox release Josh Bard". The Boston Globe.
  9. Red Sox release backstop Bard Archived March 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Nationals agree to terms on minor league contract with catcher Josh Bard
  11. Dierkes, Tim. "Mariners Designate Edward Paredes For Assignment". MLBTradeRumors.com. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  12. "Los Angeles Dodgers Rumors". MLB Trade Rumors. August 29, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  13. Dodgers hire six International Scouts covering Cuba, Europe, Latin America, Mexico, the Pacific Rim and Venezuela
  14. Weisman, Jon (December 17, 2015). "Dodgers name coaches for 2016". Dodgers.com. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  15. Kelly, Matt (December 11, 2017). "Source: Yankees hire Bard as bench coach". mlb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  16. "Yankees manager Aaron Boone suspended one game for on-field antics". Northjersey.com. October 20, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  17. Davidoff, Ken (November 11, 2019). "Why Yankees' bench coach change was not a surprise". Nypost.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  18. Gurnick, Ken (December 9, 2019). "Is Cole among LA's 'narrow group' of targets?". mlb.com. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  19. "Q&A with Josh Bard Tacoma Rainiers". Tacoma Weekly. Pierce County Community Newspaper Group. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  20. Tom Krasovic. "Winter of Bard's Content". San Diego Union Tribune.
  21. Thomas Harding. "Bard Brothers to Hold Reunion of Sorts". MLB.com.
  22. "About Mike Bard". Archived from the original on July 14, 2011.

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Chuck Crim
Mark Prior		 Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen coach
2016–2017
2020–present		 Succeeded by
Mark Prior
Incumbent
Preceded by
Rob Thomson		 New York Yankees Bench Coach
2018–2019		 Succeeded by
Carlos Mendoza
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