Brad Ausmus

Explore about the Famous Baseball Player Brad Ausmus, who was born in United States on April 14, 1969. Analyze Brad Ausmus’s net worth, age, bio, birthday, dating, height-weight, wiki. Investigate who is Brad Ausmus dating now? Look into this article to know how old is Brad Ausmus?

Brad Ausmus Biography

Former MLB catcher who was named to one All-Star game during his career, in 1999 while playing for the Detroit Tigers; became head coach of the Tigers in 2014.

He was selected in the 47th round of the 1987 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees but decided to attend Dartmouth College before joining the team.

He won three gold glove awards over the course of his career, in 2001, 2002, and 2006.

He was born to Harry and Linda Ausmus. In 1995, he married Liz Ausmus. He has two daughters, Sophie and Abby.

He was a star baseball player at Cheshire High School where he played on the same team as future NHL defender Brian Leetch.

In July, Ausmus played at Nationals Park, appearing in his 44th major league stadium. Among active players, only Chris Gomez (47), Gary Sheffield (47), and Ken Griffey, Jr. (45) had competed in more stadiums.

Bradley David Ausmus (/ˈ ɔː s m ə s / ; born April 14, 1969) is an American former professional baseball manager and catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). In his 18-year MLB playing career, Ausmus played for the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was also the manager of the Tigers and Los Angeles Angels, and of the Israel national baseball team.

In August, he scored his 700th career run, becoming the 25th catcher to reach that mark.

Ausmus was a star in baseball at Cheshire High School; as a freshman he was a teammate of National Hockey League defenseman Brian Leetch, who was then a pitcher on the school’s Connecticut state championship team in 1984. As a sophomore Ausmus played shortstop and batted .327. As a junior (when his coach moved him to catcher) he hit .436, and as a senior he hit .411 and was named the Cheshire Area High School Player of the Year. He was named to the All-State team both his junior and senior years.

Though Ausmus was not drafted until the 47th round of the 1987 draft, he played in MLB longer than any of the 1,150 players drafted ahead of him did.

Ausmus initially refused to sign with the New York Yankees after the 1987 draft in which the team picked him in the 47th round, instead choosing to pursue another childhood dream, that of attending Dartmouth College.

A 1987 draft pick of the New York Yankees, he chose to alternate between attending Dartmouth College and playing minor league baseball. Ausmus then had an 18-year major league playing career with the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers. During his playing days he was an All Star in 1999, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner (2001, ’02, and ’06), and won the 2007 Darryl Kile Award “for integrity and courage”.

Ausmus spent five years in the Yankees’ minor league system with the Gulf Coast Yankees (1988), Oneonta Yankees (1988–89), Prince William Cannons (1990–91), Albany-Colonie Yankees (1991–92) and Columbus Clippers (1992). He was subsequently selected by the Colorado Rockies with the 54th pick of the 1992 expansion draft. He spent less than a year in the Colorado organization (with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox) before he was traded to the San Diego Padres with Andy Ashby and Doug Bochtler for Bruce Hurst and Greg Harris in July 1993.

He graduated in 1991 with an A.B. in Government, and was a member of Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity and the Sphinx Senior Society. While at Dartmouth, the lowest grade Ausmus received was a B. College graduates are uncommon in major league baseball, with only 26 players and managers with four-year degrees in 2009. In 2005, Ausmus became the first Ivy League catcher to play in the World Series since Dartmouth’s Chief Meyers in 1916. Ausmus was also one of six Ivy Leaguers on major league rosters at the beginning of the 2009 season. In 2010, The Sporting News named him the ninth-smartest athlete in sports.

He made his major league debut two days later, when he started for the Padres against the Chicago Cubs, and had a single in three at bats. In 1995 Ausmus batted .293, a career best, and stole 16 bases (the most by any catcher since Craig Biggio stole 19 in 1991). Within three years, Ausmus was on the move again. In June 1996, after 149 at bats in which he batted just .181, the Padres traded him, Andújar Cedeño and minor leaguer Russ Spear to the Detroit Tigers for John Flaherty and Chris Gomez.

Ausmus and his wife, Liz, were married in 1995. They live in New Haven, Connecticut, and have two daughters, Sophie and Abigail.

Despite bouncing back somewhat in Detroit, hitting .248, Ausmus was again traded in December 1996, along with José Lima, Trever Miller, C. J. Nitkowski, and Daryle Ward, to the Houston Astros for Doug Brocail, Brian Hunter, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller, and cash. This marked the first of three times Ausmus would be exchanged between the two teams.

He led NL catchers in putouts in 1994, with 683. Ausmus nabbed a league-leading 39 opposing baserunners (41.9%) in 1995, second in the NL to Florida Marlins’ Charles Johnson, and led the league’s catchers with 14 double plays and 63 assists. On August 2, 1997, he was the first catcher to wear the FOX mini-camera, in a Houston-New York Mets game. In 1997, he had 16 double plays, a career best, and led the league in caught-stealing percentage (49.5%), as he threw out 46 of 93 runners. In 1998, he finished second to Charles Johnson in the NL Gold Glove voting.

In 1999, he led the American League with a .998 fielding percentage. In 2000, Ausmus appeared in 150 games (leading the AL), starting 140 (the most ever by a Detroit catcher). He led the league with 68 assists and 898 putouts, and threw out 30 of 74 baserunners attempting to steal (47.5%), second in the AL in that category. In 2001, he led the NL with a .997 fielding percentage and only one passed ball, had the second-best caught-stealing percentage (47.7%) in the majors, and won the first of two consecutive National League Gold Gloves with the Astros. He led the league again with a .997 fielding percentage and an 8.40 range factor, while being charged with only two passed balls in 2002. In 2003, Ausmus had a .997 fielding percentage, for the third season in a row. He led the league with a .999 fielding percentage, 884 putouts, and 134 games caught in 2005.

Generally considered light-hitting but sure-handed, Ausmus had his best offensive season in 1999 at the age of 30, when he batted .275 and set career highs in on-base percentage (.365) and slugging percentage (.415), and made the All-Star team. He was hit by pitches 14 times, sixth in the league and a career high. Ausmus batted leadoff for the Tigers seven times, the first catcher since Bruce Kimm in 1976 to do so.

In January 1999 he was traded by the Astros with C. J. Nitkowski to the Tigers for Paul Bako, Dean Crow, Brian Powell, and minor leaguers Carlos Villalobos and Mark Persails.

In December 2000, he was traded by the Tigers with Doug Brocail and Nelson Cruz to the Astros for Roger Cedeño, Chris Holt and Mitch Meluskey.

In 2001, he did not play on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, quipping that he “was trying to atone for my poor first half.” Ausmus was the manager of the Israeli team at the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The Classic’s rules permit non-Israeli citizens of Jewish heritage to play for the Israeli team.

In November 2003, he signed as a free agent with the Astros, and Ausmus did the same in December 2005. In 2004, he batted .308 against left-handers, and .364 in situations that were “late and close” (in the seventh inning or later, with the score tied or the tying run on base, at the plate, or on deck).

Ausmus was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

In 2005, he had more walks (51) than strikeouts (48). He batted .304 with two out and runners in scoring position. In 2006, Ausmus hit .230 and set a career high with nine sacrifice hits.

Ausmus led the league again in a league-leading 138 games caught with a .998 fielding percentage (the fifth-best of any catcher ever at the time) and a 7.94 range factor, with a league-leading 929 putouts and only one passed ball, and won his third Gold Glove in 2006. That year he caught the second-most games ever by a catcher at the age of 37—only Bob Boone, with 147 games, caught more at that age.

He made his franchise-record eighth Opening Day start at catcher for the Astros in 2007, breaking a tie with Alan Ashby. On July 22 of that year, Ausmus passed Gary Carter to move into sole possession of second place in major league career putouts by a catcher. In addition, he passed Ted Simmons that day to take sole possession of 12th place all-time on the games caught list, with 1,772. In 2007, he had the second-best fielding percentage (.995) and range factor (8.04) of all catchers in the NL, while being charged with only two passed balls.

Ausmus won the 2007 Darryl Kile Award “for integrity and courage”, presented annually by local chapters of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) to players on the Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. In October 2007, Ausmus accepted a one-year, $2 million (plus incentives based on playing time) contract. The Astros planned for Ausmus to play on a part-time basis and mentor J. R. Towles, who would catch the majority of the games. Were Towles to struggle, however, the Astros were prepared to turn to Ausmus.

In 2007, Ausmus batted .235, but was tied for second among all National League catchers with six stolen bases. He recorded his 100th career stolen base on July 27, becoming the 21st catcher all time to record that many steals.

In 2008, the Astros named Ausmus as an “emergency infielder.” In April, he played second base in the ninth inning of a game, and later in the season he played first base and third base. In 2005, he even played an inning at shortstop. Through 2008, Ausmus ranked ninth all-time in games caught (1,887) and starts at catcher (1,720).

In 2008, the Astros named Ausmus as an “emergency infielder.” In April, he played second base in the ninth inning of a game, and later in the season he played first base and third base. In 2005, he even played an inning at shortstop. Through 2008, Ausmus ranked ninth all-time in games caught (1,887) and starts at catcher (1,720).

In May 2008, Ausmus (along with Johnny Damon, Andruw Jones, and Derek Lowe) was one of only four active major league players who had played at least 10 years in the majors without ever going on the disabled list.

Among active catchers with at least 600 games played, he finished the 2009 season ranked tied for fourth with a .994 career fielding percentage behind Mike Redmond (.996), Joe Mauer (.996), and A. J. Pierzynski (.995).

Ausmus’s 1,141 games at catcher in that decade ranked second in the majors. As of July 12, 2009, he was third all-time among catchers in fielding percentage.

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