Brad Ausmus
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Birth Name: Bradley David Ausmus
College: Dartmouth Personal: Wife Liz, Two daughters: Sophie (March 13, 1998) and Abigail (July 27, 1999)
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One of baseball’s nicest fan personalities Ausmus frequently signs autographs before and after games. He’s one of the first guys you will see on the field and he’s just about always the last guy to leave. One time after watching an Astros game I was lucky enough to catch Ausmus signing autographs after the game. He waited until he had signed for everyone (even me, being the last)
His offensive stats may never place him among the best in any category but his defensive skills behind the plate are unmatched. Twice Ausmus has taken home the Gold Glove award and his veteran demeanor has calmed many a young pitcher. Brad Aumus was drafted in the 48th round of the 1987 Amateur Draft by the New York Yankees. A steady climb though the Yankees minor league organization after being such a late round pick showed how hard Brad was willing to work on his game. Ausmus never played for the Yankees though. Instead he was taken in the Expansion Draft before the 1993 season. However again before Aumus played for the Rockies he was traded to the San Diego Padres July 26. Two days later he made his Major League debut against the Chicago Cubs. After a walk in his first plate appearance he later singled off of Greg Hibbard for his first hit. After he call up he served as the primary catcher for the remainder of the season. His first career home run came on August 4 against Greg Brummet of the Giants. After a slow start to the 1994 season Ausmus turned it on after the All Star Game, hitting .308 in 22 games before the strike shortened season ended. Ausmus rebounded in 1995 to hit .293/.353/.412/.765 for the Padres as he started 99 of the 144 games behind home plate for the Padres. In 1996 Ausmus was traded to the Tigers after a slow start for the Padres. In Detroit Ausmus showed a resurgence and started 69 games for the team behind home plate. With Ausmus behind the plate Tigers’ starters ERA was a run and a half lower and all four of the team’s shutouts came while Ausmus was catching. Ausmus again found himself traveling as he was traded in December of 1996 to the Houston Astros. As the Astros catcher for 1997 Ausmus played a career-high 130 games, 113 of them starts.. He lead the NL in base runners caught stealing (44.7%) Brad has his first career five RBI day on July 14 at Wrigley Field. Four of the RBI’s came off a grand slam in the seventh off Kent Bottenfield. Ausmus again hurt the Cubs on September 25 this time with a three-run home runt which propelled the Astros to the NL Central crown. Though the Astros’ were defeated in the first round of the playoffs Ausmus was 2-5 with a double and two RBI in his first taste of the post season. Ausmus preformed well again for the Astros in 1998 but found himself involved in a trade to Detroit on January 14 of the following season. As a part of the Tigers Ausmus went on to have his best offensive season. He hit a career high 9 homers, 6 triples, 25 Doubles and 54 RBI. Not surprisingly his OBP and SLG were the highest of his career. (.365/.415/.779 OPS) His .997 fielding percentage was the best in the AL and second in baseball. Ausmus even made the All Star team that season. He caught the final four innings going 0-1 at the plate and throwing out Atlanta’s Brian Jordan who was attempting to steal. Ausmus caught 150 games in 2000, starting 140 of them and threw out 43.2% of base runners attempting to steal. Only Mike Mathney had a higher success rate. Ausmus made an appearance at third base, second base and first base October 1 against Minnesota. The moves allowed teammate Shane Halter to play in all nine positions. Halter went on to have the best game of his career. After two years in Detroit Ausmus was headed back to Houston. Finally in 2001 Ausmus was awarded for all his defensive ability as he earned his first Gold Glove Award after starting 120 games behind home plate. His 47.7% success rate at throwing out a runner was second in the majors. His numbers were down for the 2001 season as he failed to reach 100 hits for the first time since 1996. He rebounded for the 2002 season and picked up his second consecutive Gold Glove. He finished tied for first among NL Catchers with a .997 fielding percentage. It was the ninth straight time Brad had caught 100 games in a season. On September 21 against St. Louis his 3-4 performance helped him collect his 1,000 hit. In 2003 Ausmus had his first multi homer game of his career. He hit a grand slam in the first inning off of Bret Tomko of the Cincinnati Reds. In 2004 Aumus had his 11th season of catching 100 or more games. Ausmus made his fourth career post season appearance and connected with his second home run in the NLDS against Atlanta. 2005 was a special year for both Brad and the Astros as it marked the first time the team made it to the World Series. It was also the first time Ausmus recorded more walks then strike outs in his career. His 66 hits in the second half was the most of any NL catcher. He was one of the Astros most reliable hitters down the stretch. On September 18 he passed Alan Ashby for the most games caught in club history with 902. His 3.14 catcher ERA was the best in the majors. On August 14 Ausmus made his first appearance at shortstop and even turned a double play in the ninth. He also appeared at second base on August 31. Both 2006 and 2007 were difficult for Ausmus who hit just .230 and .235. He totaled just 5 homers over the course of the two seasons with OPS stats of .593 and .642. |
