The closer has an outstanding changeup and hates giving up

a run.

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Boston’s manager won’t go eeny-meeny-miny-mo this season trying to pick a pitcher to finish a game.

He has Keith Foulke.

A year ago in spring training, the closer’s job was up for grabs. When no reliever pitched well enough to take it, the Red Sox began the season without a designated closer.

General manager Theo Epstein doesn’t like the phrase “closer by committee.” He said Sunday the reason several pitchers were tried in that role was because he didn’t do a good enough job bringing in quality relievers.

“We were forced into a situation where we had to try a number of different guys at the back end of the game with mixed results,” he said.

Manager Grady Little didn’t like having several closers. He tried Chad Fox, Brandon Lyon, Byung-Hyun Kim and Scott Williamson in that spot. Ten pitchers had at least one save each.

Terry Francona, who took over after Little’s contract wasn’t renewed, also prefers one closer. That’s Foulke, although he’s listed as day-to-day after mildly straining his left calf during a fielding drill Sunday.

“The best thing that happened was when Keith signed. I called him and went, ‘Thank you.’ It was like, ‘You just made it a lot easier on the rest of us. We all know our roles,”‘ reliever Alan Embree said.

Embree pushed hard to win the closer’s job last spring training and ended up hurting his shoulder.

Foulke, who became a free agent after leading the AL with 43 saves with Oakland, is not a typical closer. He doesn’t throw close to 100 mph and can pitch more than one inning.

He has an outstanding changeup and hates to give up a run even if his team wins.

“I could come off (the mound) just furious. I’m a perfectionist,” he said.

Francona was a bench coach in Oakland last year and remembers when Foulke gave up leads.

“He looked like he wanted to kill himself,” Francona said. “He didn’t look down at the bullpen to see who’s throwing. He was going back out to finish.”

When he does finish, he doesn’t pump his fist or thrust his arms in the air.

“I like to be under the radar as much as possible,” he said. “It’s probably not going to work this year.”

Not in Fenway Park, where passionate fans won’t hesitate to boo if he blows chances for saves. He did that just five times in 48 opportunities last year.

Boston blew two if its first three chances last year, including a 6-4 loss in the season opener when Fox allowed five runs in the ninth to Tampa Bay.

“When guys pitch well, the roles take care of themselves,” Epstein said. “When no one in the bullpen’s pitching well, it’s impossible to establish roles.”

Foulke is one of baseball’s best closers over the last five years, the first four with the Chicago White Sox. His ERA has been under 3.00 in each of those years and he’s fourth in the majors with 130 saves the past four seasons.

“I really don’t talk about myself being a closer all the time. I’m just another bullpen guy,” he said.

There’s one role he won’t fill.

“I’m not a savior. I’m not a god. I’m just another bullpen pitcher,” Foulke said. “The way they pitched last year was probably just a fluke anyway. They’ve got some guys down there that can throw the ball.”

The Red Sox have a strong bullpen with Foulke. Embree, Williamson, Mike Timlin, Bronson Arroyo and Ramiro Mendoza.

Like workers in any profession, relievers like to know their specific jobs, pitching coach Dave Wallace said.

“When that happens, there’s a sense of stability and a sense of relief. ‘OK, I understand what I have to do. Now I’m going to do it,”‘ he said.

Boston’s approach seemed strange when the label “closer by committee” was attached to it. But other teams without an effective closer have used several players in that role.

Wallace was a senior vice president for one of them, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who began the 2002 season that way. Eric Gagne became closer early that season, and last year he led the majors with 55 saves and didn’t blow one opportunity.

The Red Sox have three other pitchers with 20-save seasons: Timlin, Williamson and Kim, although Kim has the inside track on the No. 5 starting spot.

“We have a great setup group, and Keith had a pretty good year last year, too,” Embree said.

Foulke, Williamson and Arroyo weren’t in the bullpen at the start of last season. But the philosophy of using relievers hasn’t changed much.

“The success of our bullpen will depend on how our pitchers pitch, not on how they’re used,” Epstein said. “It was true last year and it will be true this year.”

AP-ES-02-22-04 1831EST