Narron's steady hand back at perfect time

BOSTON -- In this socially distanced Summer Camp, it's possible that nobody has a more challenging job than the bench coach.

Traditionally, it is the bench coach who draws up the daily schedule for Spring Training -- and in this case, Summer Camp.

Now, there is so much to consider. How many players per group? How much do they have to space out? Who works out at Fenway Park and who goes to Boston College? How much of a gap is needed between each group for things to function smoothly and safely?

That puts the Red Sox in a more enviable spot than many teams. And that's largely because they have Jerry Narron, a baseball lifer who has earned his reputation as one of the most meticulous and organized coaches in the game.

"He's so good at his job that he's been on top of, without a doubt, the most difficult training camp to try to schedule," said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. "He's really good at that. We still talk about it daily, what we want to do. I think he gets along with people well."

This is why Narron was Roenicke's first choice to become bench coach -- the role Narron was hired for with Spring Training already underway on Feb. 22.

"He coached right away, even in Spring Training, and connected with them," said Roenicke. "He is familiar with a few of the people here when he coached here before, so he's fitting in well. But I just like the experience that he has, and any question that I run by him, he usually has a pretty smart answer about it."

• Notes: Devers back at Camp; Peraza impressing

The curveball of a three-week Summer Camp preceding a 60-game sprint of a regular season hasn't fazed Narron in the slightest.

"It's definitely different, but you know, coming into this, I've always had the idea of embracing the challenge, the chaos," said Narron. "I think we've done a pretty good job of it. With the protocols, we have to stagger times out there on the field and keep the distancing. But for the most part, it's worked out real well. We've tried to use any empty time we can getting extra guys some batting practice or that type of thing, or ground balls."

At the age of 64, Narron gave no thought of electing not to take part in this unique season, even as some other coaches in his age bracket have been told not to participate this season or have made that decision on their own.

Narron, who was also the bench coach in Milwaukee for Roenicke from 2011-15, was all-in the entire time.

"None," said Narron, when asked if he had any hesitation. "For me, I think if I had some kind of pre-existing condition, I may have been a little apprehensive. But I'm healthy, or I think I'm healthy. I don't have anything pre-existing, so I felt pretty comfortable doing it. I know we've taken plenty of precautions and we're probably safer here than we are anywhere else."

And there is nowhere Narron feels safer than a ballfield. This is his 26th season on a Major League coaching staff, and 13th as a bench coach. He has also managed in the Majors and Minors, and he played in the Major Leagues from 1979-87.

With his southern accent and pleasant demeanor, Narron loves talking with the players, as well as coaching them. That's the one thing that has made these past few days difficult.

That communication simply can't be what it has been in the past.

"That's the worst part," said Narron. "In baseball, we meet together as a club during Spring Training every day. Meet with the staff every day, meet with the front office every day to go over what we're doing that day. That's one of the biggest challenges, not meeting with the players every day. But we do a lot of texting, do some Zooming, do whatever we have to do to keep everybody on the same page.

"I think for the most part so far, everything has run pretty smoothly. It would be nicer to tighten things up a little bit, but with the protocols, we just have to get some distancing time between groups getting out there."

There has also been quite some distancing between Narron's stints as Boston's bench coach. He last served in that role under Grady Little in 2003 -- the year the Red Sox had a 5-2 lead in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium. And, well, you know what happened after that.

"Definitely it's nice that I've been able to come back here," Narron said. "That's something I never thought I'd be able to do. To be back is awesome. It's kind of like when you play with guys, it's a family and they might be away, they might be on another club for a few years, they come back and it was like they never left.

"It feels very similar being back here. Being here in '03, how close we were, what a great bunch of guys that was, knowing we were very, very close to winning it all and not being a part of that was very difficult. But I definitely pulled for these guys over the years and have always been a Red Sox fan after leaving here -- especially since I was in the National League, it made it easier."

When Narron was here 17 years ago, the Red Sox hadn't won it all in 85 years. Now he runs down the steps and into the dugout and sees an inspirational sign that says, "We play for championships."

"That's awesome," Narron said. "That's what everyone is in this game to do."

The ring has eluded Narron to this point in his long baseball journey, but it would be storybook if he could get one in his return to Boston.

"He reminds me of Ron a lot, and obviously they know a lot about baseball," said Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi. "They pick up on a lot of little things that people don't see, so having a guy like him and Ron and everyone else, they're here to make us better and help us win games. A guy like Jerry who's been around, it's good to learn from him."