Joshua David Bard (born March 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball catcher who is currently 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.

Early life and amateur career

Bard was born in Ithaca, New York. He attended Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, Colorado, where he won consecutive state baseball championships in 1995 and 1996, where he was a three-time All-American while playing for Red Raiders. He had a .366 batting average with 43 home runs and 232 runs batted in (RBI) in his three-seasons at Texas Tech. He was the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year in 1997 and won the Most Valuable Player Award at the 1998 Conference Tournament. and in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup. and signed with them on August 12 for a $387,500 signing bonus. He was invited to Major League spring training with the Rockies in 2000 and was assigned to the Salem Avalanche of the Carolina League to begin his professional career. The Indians assigned him to the Double-A Akron Aeros of the Eastern League, and he made his MLB debut against the Seattle Mariners. He recorded his first MLB hit on a single off Joel Piñeiro in the fifth inning and hit a two-run walk-off home run off James Baldwin in the bottom of the ninth becoming the second player to hit a walk-off home run in his debut (the other being Billy Parker in 1971). On the season, he batted .222 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 24 games, with a toe injury suffered in September limiting him at the end of the season. He became the Red Sox's backup catcher during spring training 2006 following the retirement of John Flaherty. His primary duties were catching knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield. He struggled at the task, giving up three passed balls in his first appearance for the Red Sox on April 4. In an April 26, 2006, game against the Indians, Bard gave up four passed balls in one game, giving him a total of 10 passed balls in his first five games. As a batter, he had five hits in 18 at-bats over seven games. Mirabelli, who had been traded by the Red Sox to the Padres for Mark Loretta during the offseason, was experienced at catching Wakefield. batting .285 with five home runs and 51 RBI. who then suffered a season ending injury. Prospect Nick Hundley was called up on July 3 and became the Padres primary catcher as Bard also missed most of August with a strained right triceps

Washington Nationals

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. However, on March 18, he was released and two days later signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals. He spent most of the season platooning at catcher with Wil Nieves following an injury to Jesús Flores and played in 26 games with the Mariners, hitting .210. but was released by them prior to the start of the season on March 29, 2012. On April 5, he re-signed with the organization and was assigned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. He became the Dodgers major league bullpen coach for the 2016 season.

The New York Yankees hired Bard as their bench coach for the 2018 season under new manager Aaron Boone. Bard served as acting manager on September 2, due to Boone serving a one-game suspension and again the following season on July 19. On November 11, 2019, Bard left his bench coach position.

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

Personal life

Although Bard was born in Ithaca, New York, his family moved to Colorado when he was five months old. His wife, Lindsey, is a teacher and they have three children. was a collegiate coach for 13 years, and is currently a private instructor in the Denver area.

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