PHOENIX -- Of all the pitchers assessing their Spring Training progress around Major League camps, one definitely ahead of his 2007 pace is Keith Foulke.

Not in pitching, but just in presence.

Trying in earnest to resuscitate his career as a cog in Oakland's bullpen, Foulke is already a week ahead of his pace of last year. He's still around.

By this time a year ago, Foulke was a rumor in the Indians' camp, AWOL -- Absent With Outstanding Logic.

"I wasn't in shape. My elbow was killing me," Foulke recalled. "Sure, I could tell right away."

So on Feb. 16, he announced his retirement, stunning the Indians, who had signed him for $5 million to be their closer. Foulke was such a mirage in Cleveland's Winter Haven, Fla. camp that months later manager Eric Wedge couldn't recall him ever being in his plans.

It turned out all right for everyone. With Joe Borowski as their Plan B closer, the Indians played into the American League Championship Series. And Foulke could repair his body without the stress of keeping a team that needed him on hold -- the situation that had messed up his final two years in Boston.

Surgery removed the bone spur from his elbow. Time helped his sore knees. He eventually resumed throwing and, a couple months past his 35th birthday, felt physically and mentally ready to resume his career.

He auditioned for several teams, and when the A's felt comfortable offering him a shot, he felt comfortable accepting it.

"He's throwing the way I remember seeing him years ago, when he was here," said Bob Geren, now the A's manager and the Oakland bullpen coach in 2003, when Foulke blew through town with 43 saves.

"Coming back here -- I know the staff, there are still some other people around -- There's a lot of room for success here," said Foulke, calling it a "very comfortable situation."

Comfort is one thing he did not feel in Boston after being instrumental in ending the Red Sox's fabled World Series curse in 2004, when he had 32 saves plus three more in the postseason -- none more everlasting than in Game 4 of the Classic sweep of St. Louis.

The glory faded into agony in 2005-06, when he secured only 15 more saves amid physical and emotional nightmares, eventually giving way to Jonathan Papelbon as Boston's closer.

"What it boils down to is, I should've had my knees fixed in '05," Foulke said. "I should've taken '05 off to get healthy. That would've saved me a lot of pain and discomfort -- and a lot of bad outings. And I wouldn't have had to worry about pitching poorly in '06.

"I should've also had the elbow looked at back then. It bothered me the last couple of years in Boston. And it just got to the point where I had to get it fixed, or I wasn't gonna help anybody. I had to get it done, and rededicate myself.

"I know that I can still pitch, and pitch well in this league," he added, the summary all A's fans will be happy to hear.

There is indisputable proof to support Foulke's version of events. Although never recognized as one of the game's marquee closers -- from 2002 through 2004, he sat in three different bullpens in consecutive seasons, something the premier guys are not supposed to do -- for a long time he pitched like one.

From 1999 through 2004, a six-year stretch, he worked to a crisp 2.43 ERA, while averaging about a strikeout an inning. In the two seasons on aching knees and with a throbbing elbow and with perverted mechanics, he had an ERA of 5.12.

Now that the health is back, the stuff could follow. He still can't dial up the fastball out of the 80s, but brute fire had never been his game. Foulke was all about making the ball move, and being able to throw it across a dime.

His Spring Training project is regaining that feel, and the mechanics that would enable it.

"Over the last couple of years in Boston, with my knees just bothering me so much, I gradually changed my mechanics so I could take pressure off them and keep pitching," Foulke said. "I kept getting further and further away from where I needed to be. And the results weren't there.

"So now I need to get back to pitching how I did years ago. After taking off a year, it's kinda like starting over again."

Foulke's throwing sessions thus take place in a laboratory as much as in a bullpen. They also turn into lectures, as he often stops for discussions with his catchers and pitching coach Curt Young.

"I know what I need to do, and I'm trying to explain it to the staff," Foulke said. "That way they can help me help myself.

"We're getting there. But it's definitely going to be a process. Might as well start dealing with it now. Health is such a big part of it. Now that I have my health back, I'm also getting stronger. Things will fall into place."

Odds on the comeback Foulke is attempting are hardly prohibitive. Returning to Major League-caliber work after extended layoffs to heal limbs and psyches seems to becoming more common. Only last season, Troy Percival resurfaced from a sabbatical of almost two years virtually as good as new.

Not that Foulke needs the encouragement of precedent.

"I don't need to look at other people. I know that I can still help someone win," he said. "That's my encouragement.

"I'm a perfectionist, and when I make myself happy, the results are there and everyone else is happy as well."

Foulke paused to glance around the A's cavernous clubhouse. He felt back home.

"I have a job. And I look forward to having a good time this year."