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Bradley David Ausmus (born April 14, 1969, in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American 3-time Gold Glove Award winning catcher in Major League Baseball with the Houston Astros. With more than 100 games caught in 11 consecutive seasons, he ranks 3rd among active catchers in games played. He is 6th all-time of all Jewish major leaguers in hits, and 8th in home runs and RBIs, trailing only Hank Greenberg and Shawn Green in all three categories.[1]
Early lifeHigh school
Ausmus set two goals for himself as a youth: to become a major-league ballplayer, and to attend Dartmouth. Both dreams came true.[2] CollegeAusmus chose an unusual route to the major leagues. He played minor league baseball during the summers, while attending Dartmouth College, from which he graduated with a B.A. in government. He also served as a volunteer coach and bullpen catcher for the Big Green. Major league careerAusmus was drafted in 1987 by the New York Yankees in the 48th round of the draft. He initially refused to sign, but eventually relented when the Yankees agreed to allow him to attend classes at Dartmouth while working his way up the minor-league ladder.[3] He spent five years in their minor league system.
San Diego Padres (1993-96)He made his Major League debut two days later, when he started for the Padres against the Chicago Cubs, and went 1-for-3 with a single. [4] In 1994 he received 12 intentional walks, 7th in the league and a career high. In 1995 he batted .293, a career-best, and stole 16 bases (the most by any catcher since Craig Biggio stole 19 in 1991). Within 3 years, Ausmus was on the move again. After 149 at-bats in which he batted just .181, the Padres traded him with Russ Spear (minors) and Andujar Cedeno in June 1996 to the Detroit Tigers for John Flaherty and Chris Gomez. Detroit Tigers (1996)Despite bouncing back somewhat in Detroit, hitting .248, Ausmus was again traded in December 1996. He was traded with Jose 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. Houston Astros (1997-98)In 1998 he received 11 intentional walks, 8th in the league. In January 1999 he was traded by the Houston Astros with C.J. Nitkowski to the Detroit Tigers for Paul Bako, Dean Crow, Brian Powell, Carlos Villalobos (minors), and Mark Persails (minors). Detroit Tigers (1999-2000)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 14 times by pitchers, 6th in the league and a career high. In December 2000 he was traded by the Detroit Tigers with Doug Brocail and Nelson Cruz to the Houston Astros for Roger Cedeno, Chris Holt, and Mitch Meluskey. Houston Astros (2001-present)In November 2003 he signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros, and he did the same in December 2005. In 2004 he received 11 intentional walks, 8th in the league. He batted .308 against left-handers, and .364 in games that were late and close. In 2005 he had more walks (51) than strikeouts (48). He batted .304 with 2 out and runners in scoring position. In 2006, Ausmus hit .230 and set a career high with 9 sacrifice hits. DefenseHe nabbed 39% of opposing baserunners in 1995, second in the NL only to the Marlins' Charles Johnson, and led the league with 14 double plays and 63 assists at catcher. In 1997 he had 16 double plays, a career-best, and led the league in caught-stealing percentage. In 1998 he finished second to Charles Johnson in the NL Gold Glove voting. In 1999 he led the AL with a .998 fielding percentage. In 2000 he appeared in 150 games, starting 140, which was the most ever by a Detroit catcher. He led the league with 68 assists, and he threw out 30 of 74 baserunners attempting to steal (43.2%), leading the AL in that category. In 2001, he led the NL with a .997 fielding percentage and only 1 passed ball, had the second best caught-stealing percentage (40%) in the majors, and won the first of two consecutive National League Gold Gloves with the Houston Astros. He led the league again with a .997 fielding percentage and only 2 passed balls in 2002). In 2003 had a .997 fielding percentage, for the third season in a row. He led the league with a .999 fielding percentage in 2005. He led the league again with a .998 fielding percentage and only 1 passed ball and won his third Gold Glove in 2006. He has exhibited better range at catcher than the league average each season in his career. He is known for his strong arm, quick release, nimble footwork, framing pitches deftly, and smart handling of pitchers While the vast majority of his games have been at catcher, Ausmus has also played a handful of games at first base, second base, third base, and shortstop, all of them without making an error. Post-season careerAusmus has played in the post-season 5 times, all with the Astros. In Game 4 of the 2005 National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, Ausmus homered with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 6-6 and send it to extra innings; the Astros eventually won in the 18th inning of the longest postseason game in major league history. Hall of FameAusmus was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.[5] Miscellaneous
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