Brad Ausmus, Coach, Oakland Athletics

Date of Birth: 4/14/1969
Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut
College: Dartmouth College

Brad Ausmus, bench coach for the Oakland Athletics, was primarily a catcher in the major leagues for 18 years. He was first drafted in 1987 by the New York Yankees. He played in the minor leagues with the Yankees from 1988 through 1992.

In the 1992 expansion draft, the Colorado Rockies selected Ausmus and sent him to their minor league teams for that season. The following July, they traded him to the San Diego Padres. After a little over three years with the Padres, Ausmus was traded to the Detroit Tigers in June, 1996. From 1996 through 2001, Ausmus bounced back and forth between the Tigers and the Houston Astros, playing with the Tigers in 1996, 1999, and 2000, and playing with the Astros in 1997, 1998, and 2001. From 2001 through 2008, Ausmus was a regular player with the Astros and those proved to be his best seasons. During that time with the Astros, Ausmus won three Gold Gloves (2001, 2002, 2006).

Ausmus spent the last two seasons of his career as a backup catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He retired as a player in October, 2010.

Batting statistics for Ausmus in 18 seasons as a major league player include:

• 1,971 games played
• 1,579 hits
• 270 doubles
• 607 RBIs
• .251 batting average

Career fielding statistics for Ausmus as a major league catcher include:

• 1,938 games played
• 79 errors
• 956 assists
• 12,839 putouts
• .994 fielding percentage

Brad Ausmus was hired to replace Jim Leyland as manager of the Tigers on November 3, 2013. Although Ausmus had some managerial experience, the 2014 season was his first time managing in the major leagues. Prior to that appointment, Ausmus managed for one season in the Israeli baseball league and in 2013 he managed the Israeli team in the World Baseball Classic. The Tigers, apparently, had great faith in Ausmus' managerial abilities since they gave him a three-year contract with a club option for 2017. At 44 years of age, Ausmus was one of the youngest managers in major league baseball in 2014.

In his first year as a major league manager, Ausmus led the Tigers to a 90-72 record and a first place finish in the American League Central division. They lost, however, to the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Division series with a 3-0 record. In 2015, they fared much worse, ending in fifth place in the division with a 74-87 record.

Ausmus led the Tigers to a second place finish in the AL Central division in 2016. The team had 86 wins to 75 losses.

In 2017, the Tigers tied with the San Francisco Giants for the worst record in baseball with 64 wins to 98 losses. He was not given a new contract after the regular season ended.

Ausmus' record as manager of the Tigers from 2014 through 2017 is 314 wins to 332 losses.

In 2018, Ausmus was hired by the Los Angeles Angels as a special assistant to the general manager.

Ausmus was hired as the Angels' manager on October 21, 2018. He led the team to 72 wins and 90 losses in 2019. He was fired on September 30, 2019.

Ausmus was hired as the bench coach for the Athletics in January, 2022.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Brad Ausmus
ESPN - Brad Ausmus