Boston reliever Mike Timlin, now in Pawtucket on a rehab assignment, says he’s not ready to end his baseball career.

Journal / Bob Breidenbach

PAWTUCKET –– Mike Timlin was told to sit comfortably in the PawSox dugout yesterday afternoon at McCoy Stadium to rest his sore knee while the rest of the Pawtucket club took batting practice and shagged balls.

The Red Sox reliever began his rehab stint — his second with the PawSox this season — last night and the veteran right-hander is expected to pitch every other day for at least a week.

The owner of more than 1,000 appearances in the majors, the 18-year pro has battled injuries the last few years as a young corp of strong arms is quickly developing in the Boston bullpen. Timlin said yesterday he’s not thinking about life after baseball just yet. His plan is to get healthy and rejoin his Red Sox teammates as soon as possible.

He sees the likes of Manny Delcarmen, David Aardsma, Craig Hansen, and, most recently, 27-year-old rookie Chris Smith and Timlin knows his time may be limited in Boston. Still, he wants to leave a lasting impression on the Red Sox and professional baseball until he makes that final decision.

“I want to be able to have other people remember me like I wasn’t afraid to help people,” he said. “He wasn’t afraid to help someone else even though that someone else is going to take your job or will be better than you. You still educate other players and you want to be a complete team player, no matter what. If you’re a great team player who sits on the bench and helps everyone during the game and makes the team better out there, that’s the kind of guy you want to be remembered.”

When Timlin signed with the Red Sox as a free agent in December 2002, he had already made his mark in the game as one of the premier relievers. He was part of two World Series championship teams with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and ’93.

Since that time he has played for Seattle, Baltimore, St. Louis and Philadelphia before he signed with the Red Sox before the 2003 season.

That’s when everything changed for Timlin and the Red Sox.

Boston was one victory away from reaching the World Series in 2003 before they lost to the Yankees in Game Seven of the ALCS. In 2004 the Red Sox won the World Series after an 86-year drought and it didn’t take too long for the club to win again in 2007.

Timlin explained one of the reasons why he thinks the Sox have been able to have so much success since his arrival.

“When I played against Boston, it was a team with no center,” Timlin said. “Guys would just go out and play and then scatter in the wind. When I first got here in 2003 it was more of a collective agreement among guys that we need to change things.”

The players got together and decided to become a more cohesive unit, which meant spending more time together away from the ballpark. Timlin mentioned the core group was Kevin Millar, Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, Doug Mirabelli, Curt Schilling and Bill Mueller. They wanted to change the landscape in Boston.

“All the guys who were there in 2003 started working together and it started showing,” he said. “Things started to go in the right direction and obviously we rolled farther, winning in 2004 and again last year. It’s always about the team. You have to get the concept of the team is greater than the individual, even though the individual does most of the work, the team is still greater. That’s not a theory; it’s a fact. … We didn’t just verbalize it, we did it.”

The current Red Sox bullpen has its own identity. Timlin and the rest of the relievers consider themselves baseball pirates, ready to rob the opposition of victory whenever called upon. There’s a Jolly Roger flag hanging in the Sox’ bullpen. They all wear bandanas during warmups. They create their own music during the game.

It’s something Timlin has created and the young arms listen and look to the veteran as a mentor. He preaches the team concept to his fellow relievers and the rest of the veterans on the club have also set an example.

“That’s put into practice every day in Boston,” said Timlin. “You have to put yourself behind the team, and once you put yourself behind the team, that’s when things start flourishing for everyone.”

jmcdonal@projo.com