Sox' Bard opens eyes

It was one of the coolest non-boxscore moments of the Red Sox' recently completed nine-game road trip. As players were assembling in front of the third base dugout at Camden Yards Wednesday morning for their pregame stretching regimen, rookie right-hander Daniel Bard was approached by a tall, well-dressed man with a dark tan and neatly combed hair. That man was Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, the greatest of all those great Orioles pitchers who took the mound during the Earl Weaver years. Bard later tried to downplay the meeting, explaining that Palmer is an Orioles television analyst and that ``it's part of his job to get to know the guys he's talking about.'' Well, there's that. But the guessing here is that Palmer doesn't play meet-and-greet with every player on every team that passes through Camden Yards. But surely he's seen this kid pitch, seen the youth on parade, seen the poise, seen him bust fastballs past veteran hitters . . . maybe even seen a little of himself. ``It was definitely an honor to meet him,'' said Bard. ``He's one of the best of all time.'' Bard didn't get around to talking shop with Palmer. He preferred to proudly point out that his father, Paul Bard, a former catcher in the Orioles' farm system, caught Palmer in spring training in the early '80s. Alas, Palmer didn't remember Paul Bard. Chances are better he'll remember Daniel Bard. The way this kid is going, we all will. Now if Bard's name isn't yet screaming from the lips of Baseball fans from coast to coast, it's because the Red Sox have been very careful as to how, and when, they give him pitching assignments. They didn't call him from the minors and heave him into the rotation, or make him the closer, or even deliver him to some kind of important set-up role. No. Instead, it was an inning here, an inning there, often in some kind of mop-up capacity. ``We wanted to get him in situations where he wouldn't necessarily have a game on the line,'' said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. ``But when a bigger situation fits, and he's in there in those games, we really like it because it's great for him.'' It's called on-the-job training, and that's precisely what was presented to Bard in the eighth inning of Wednesday's game against the Orioles. The Red Sox were trailing 5-1 at the time - mop-up duty - and Bard struck out the side. But the mop-up situation soon became something more. The Red Sox scored four runs in the top of the ninth to tie it. So what happened? Bard came back out for the bottom of the ninth. And he pitched a 1-2-3 inning, including a strikeout of Nate Reimold. Considering the Red Sox came back to win the game in 11 innings, Bard's performance was hardly mop-up. ``He has a lot of poise, but he's worked at it,'' said Francona. ``There's always going to be a hiccup or two with young pitchers. That's a given. But when you exhibit that kind of stuff and you're willing to work and listen, it's got a chance to work out pretty good for you.'' Bard admits he wasn't keen on the early mop-up appearances. He'd take the mound, then say to himself, ``OK, I'm better than this situation.'' And then he thought things over. ``Our bullpen is so good that I soon accepted my role,'' he said. ``If they want me in there when we're down by five runs, then my job is to keep the score right there and give us a chance to come back. ``If things change, they change. If they don't, the bullpen's doing pretty well the way it's set up right now.'' Just this week, Jonathan Papelbon emerged as the Red Sox' all-time saves leader. But whether Papelbon remains in Boston for the long term is a question nobody can answer. If he doesn't, one has to wonder if the Sox' closer-of-the-future is the kid who was shaking hands with Jim Palmer the other day. - sbuckley@bostonherald.com