Red Sox’ Jason Varitek shares unique perspective on Daniel Bard’s comeback

The last time Daniel Bard blew a save for the Red Sox was a Wednesday.

Jason Varitek was catching. The Sox were up 4-2 on the Blue Jays with a sellout crowd at Fenway Park. They were four games ahead of the Rays in the American League Wild Card. It was September 14, 2011.

Varitek, the longtime Red Sox catcher and captain, was less than two weeks from his final game before retiring.

Bard, too, was fading out of the game, even if he didn’t know it yet. The yips were about to take over his career and upend his life.

“We had as dominant a one-two punch as you can get with him and Jonathan Papelbon,” Varitek remembered in a phone call with the Herald last week. “Daniel was the first guy I ever caught who got the ball to 100 mph. It was such a unique experience. The very first time I caught a bullpen with him it was like, ‘what’s this going to be like?’ Well, here it comes. And he had an effortless ability to do that.

“He was so good for us and so dominant.”

That Wednesday in Fenway was the beginning of the end for Bard. He entered to protect a two-run lead and walked the first two batters on nine pitches. The third batter dropped a bunt down, Bard fielded it and threw it away. Everybody was safe.

The Jays came back and won the game, 5-4. It was Bard’s final blown save in Boston. It was Varitek’s final time catching him. And the Red Sox, of course, went on to lose 11 of their final 15 games to get eliminated from playoff contention in one of the most dramatic days in recent baseball history.

That was almost 10 years ago.

“I think about him often,” Varitek said. “He and his wife, Adair, I’ve heard they’ve had children. I haven’t talked to him in a while. I think for a few years after, we stayed in touch more, but this is probably a moment to reach back out and find a way to get a hold of him and congratulate him.”

There’s a lot for them to catch up on.

Bard’s story is one of the few remarkable ones in a 2020 MLB season that’s been marked by a labor dispute, positive coronavirus tests and an ongoing blame game between the owners and players.

As of Monday, Bard had faced 23 batters out of the bullpen for the Colorado Rockies and walked none of them. He’s struck out five and allowed just two runs in 5 ⅔ innings. In his first game back after a seven-year hiatus from the major leagues, Bard got the win.

“So awesome,” Varitek said.

It’s been a while since he’s thought about Bard.

Bard’s final season with the Red Sox in 2012, Varitek was watching from retirement. Bard moved from the bullpen to join Bobby Valentine’s rotation. He walked a stunning 43 batters in 59 ⅓ innings. He had a 1.74 WHIP.

Varitek, often considered a future manager by some in the game, said he would have never put Bard in the rotation. But it wasn’t his choice.

“That was hard because the end of the game is so valuable,” he said. “Having seen Pap try to go back and do that, no, I wouldn’t have. But guys’ desires are different, and what they want to get out of their careers. But when you have a one-two punch like that at the end of your bullpen, pretty much the game’s over in seven innings. The game’s over.

“If I remember correctly it was something he really wanted to do.”

Back before Bard joined the Red Sox’ roster, Tek was warned about his brief experience with the yips in the minor leagues.

“Well we knew that with Daniel when he got there,” Varitek said. “They did a good job of giving us enough information. You don’t ask too much right away. You try to put them in situations where they’re not trying to do too much. He did that and then you’re able to quickly add on to it. His effort level and his stuff just played.”

Bard’s first three years in the big leagues were so dominant (2.88 ERA, 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings), the Sox never thought the yips would come back.

“I don’t think at that point it was a big deal,” said Varitek, who caught Bard for a majority of those innings from ’09-’11. “It was something to be aware of but not to be overly concerned about. From the get-go, he was able to do the ball down and away and be around that area all the time. Walks weren’t an issue. It was like, oh, this is background information and he’s outgrown that.

“We knew he had some moments where he’s ‘hit the bull,’ so to speak. Not trying to make light of it. That’s fine. You don’t look at it as the yips. You just looked at it as, ‘he’s still reining in his command.’”

But when Bard fell apart after Varitek’s retirement, the catcher couldn’t help but hurt for him.

To watch him come back has been shocking.

“It’s like Rick Ankiel making it back to the big leagues as a position player,” Varitek said. “But Daniel didn’t switch positions. He faced it head on. He was able to make it back. I just want to see him pitch. I want to see where his pitchability is at right now and his stuff.”

Told Bard is throwing 98 mph regularly again with the Rockies this year, Varitek was stunned.

“I didn’t really know anything until yesterday or the day before,” he said last week. “I was like, ‘oh my goodness, that’s so awesome that he’s made himself back and he’s there.’

“It’s hard on my end. He was a good friend, a good teammate. To see someone so dominant, to see the struggles he’s had and to find a way to make it back, that’s so awesome.”

Bard was coaching just last year for the Diamondbacks. Varitek has been playing a crucial role coaching the catchers with the Red Sox.

Any sudden burst of inspiration to put the cleats back on and play again?

“No,” Varitek said. “I have enough knee and feet issues. I’m good.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3i9BOI7