Josh Bard

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.

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.

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]

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]

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.

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.

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.