Kapler hopes to manage a comeback as player

It had nothing to do with managing, which remains a possibility in his future. It had everything to do with his health and desire, a realization that he could still be a big league player, instead of the manager of the Single A Greenville Drive. So Gabe Kapler - the outfielder with the cult following among fans and teammates - will attempt a comeback in 2008, a year removed from his last try at major league baseball.

"The decision came at the end of our season," the former Red Sox substitute wrote in an e-mail yesterday. "As the season wore on, I began to feel healthier and healthier. I believe I came back from my Achilles' injury in 2006 too early. Feeling as good as I do now forced me to examine my decision to stop playing. I spent a great deal of time soul searching.

"After conversations with my agent, who has been through this with guys like [Damion ] Easley, Troy Percival and Tim Worrell, I realized that, like them, I still had a fire burning inside of me to play."

That became apparent to his team, though not until the season neared its end. Daniel Bard, the 2006 first-round pick who pitched for Kapler in Greenville, said he had an inkling but wasn't sure until being alerted to the decision yesterday.

"The whole season, the whole time I was playing for him, I never saw him pick up a bat once," Bard said. "You'd think a guy that just got done playing would want to get in there and take a few hacks. Until three games left in the season. He put himself in one of the hitting groups, started taking his hacks. He put on a show. Didn't look like he missed a beat."

The 32-year-old retired in December after playing in the major leagues from 1998-2006 with Detroit, Texas, Colorado, and Boston. He hit .270 with 64 home runs and 302 RBIs in 850 games, and really found a place after coming to the Red Sox in 2003. But he ruptured his left Achilles' in September 2005 running the bases, returning in June 2006, earlier than many expected.

He stayed with Boston for the remainder of last season before deciding to manage in the Sox system.

"You could tell he was always trying to learn," Bard said. "Our team, we didn't come out with a good record [29-41]. We had talent, but it was young talent. Didn't have a lot of success record-wise, but a lot of guys developed. You could tell he cared about all his players as people, which is really rare to find in pro baseball."

As for his future as a player, Kapler is leaving most of the talk for the offseason. He just knows he has to try again before it's too late.

"[My wife, Lisa] urged me to consider the fact that at 32, I can play now and manage later," Kapler wrote. "Managing another year would essentially end my playing career. As far as speaking with teams about playing goes, I will walk down that road in the offseason."

Pen is leaking

From historically good to getting rocked. After spending much of the season fighting it out with the Padres for best-in-the-majors accolades, the Sox bullpen hasn't exactly covered itself with glory in recent games. Between Hideki Okajima's struggles, Eric Gagné's well-chronicled tribulations, and two straight bad outings from Jonathan Papelbon, the bullpen has a 6.20 ERA over its last eight games and a 5.12 ERA in its last 18, though it still ranks among the best in baseball. "Those happen at some point," Jason Varitek said. "You don't want to see it happen now, but now we have to find a way to get it up and get it done. With everybody. The guys that we keep putting out there in those situations, I'll keep having them out there, because I have faith in them. We just need to keep going."

Crisp may be back

Coco Crisp said that, depending on how he feels after yesterday's offday, he could return to the lineup tonight against the Devil Rays. Though he felt the injury in his neck initially, the tightness spread to his back and hip . . . Those who got an e-mail for winning the lottery for Sox playoff tickets might have been disappointed to discover that the e-mail didn't guarantee them a seat. Instead, it gave them the opportunity to purchase tickets. Recipients still had to spend time in a virtual waiting room, at an appointed hour, to buy up to two tickets for a postseason game. It was first come, first served . . . Today marks the first day of workouts for the Red Sox' instructional league team in Fort Myers, Fla. The session, which ends Oct. 12, includes a 12-game schedule. Pitcher Nick Hagadone and infielder Ryan Dent, the top two Boston selections in the 2007 draft, will participate . . . The Red Sox announced they will team with the National Resources Defense Council in a five-year effort to make Fenway Park more environmentally friendly. The initiative will include a recycling program. Solar panels to provide energy are also being considered.