Ausmus

Ausmus

Bradley David "Brad" Ausmus (/ˈɔːsməs/; born April 14, 1969, in New Haven, Connecticut) is a former All Star catcher in Major League Baseball, and currently a special assistant for the San Diego Padres as well as the Manager for Israel's World Baseball Classic team.

In his 18-year major league playing career with the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers, he was a three-time Gold Glove Award winner (2001–02, 2006). He was also an All Star in 1999. He 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.

A five-time league-leader at catcher in fielding percentage, he has also led the league twice each in percentage caught stealing and in range factor, and once each in putouts and assists.

He finished his career in 2010 ranked third in major league history with 12,839 putouts as a catcher, trailing only Iván Rodríguez and Jason Kendall, seventh in games caught with 1,938, and 10th in both range factor/game (7.12) and fielding percentage (.994). He also ranked first all-time among all Jewish major leaguers in career games played (1,971), fifth in hits (1,579), and eighth in runs batted in (607; directly behind Mike Lieberthal).

Read more about Ausmus:  Minor League Career, National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Bibliography