Josh Bard

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.

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.

Bard was born in Ithaca, New York.

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, where he was a three-time All-American while playing for Texas Tech Red Raiders.

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.

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.

A few days later, Bard was traded along with Cla Meredith to the San Diego Padres for Doug Mirabelli.

Mirabelli, who had been traded by the Red Sox to the Padres for Mark Loretta during the offseason, was experienced at catching Tim Wakefield.

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.

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.

In October 2008, Bard left the Padres and became a free agent.

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.

On March 21, 2009 Bard signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals and was invited to Spring Training.

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.

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.