Brad Ausmus #11

Brad Ausmus...he and his wife, Liz, make their offseason home in Del Mar with their two daughters: Sophie (3/13/98) and Abigail (7/27/99)...named the Cheshire (CT) Area High School Player of the Year in his senior season...earned All-State honors his junior and senior years...teammate of National Hockey League defenseman Brian Leetch on the 1984 baseball team that won the Connecticut high school championship...graduated from Dartmouth (NH) College with a B.A. in government...attended the Dodger Community Caravan in both 2009 and 2010...was the catcher for the following celebrity Ceremonial First Pitches: Bryan Cranston (April 30), Breckin Meyer (May 1), Kim Kardashian (May 6), Mario Lopez (May 18), Matthew McConaughey (May 20), Justin Bartha (June 3), Lauren Conrad (June 6), Bill Paxton (June 10), Zachary Levi (June 26), Cheech Marin (July 22), Tom Arnold (July 25), Nathan Followill (August 20), Christian Slater (August 23), Audrina Patridge (August 31), Pit Bull (September 1), Pete Wentz (September 2), Wilmer Valderrama (September 18), Jenna Elfman (September 19) and Kathy Ireland (October 3)...was the recipient of the 2006 Darryl Kile Award, which is given annually by the Houston BBWAA to the Cadinals and Astros player who best exemplifies Kile's traits of "a good teammate, a great friend, a fine father, and a humble man."

2009

Started 27 games at catcher, and the Dodgers went 16-11 in those games...batted .303 with a homer and eight RBI in those starts and .295 in 36 games overall...Finished the year tied for eighth in Major League Baseball history with Benito Sanitago with 1,917 games at catcher, second among active backstops behind only Ivan Rodriguez (2,288)...Has played 17 Major League seasons without going on the disabled list, the most by any active player...next on the list Derek Lowe (13), A.J. Pierzynski (12), Javier Vazquez (12) and Randy Winn (12)...Was behind the plate for the following pitchers' starts: Clayton Kershaw (seven), Hiroki Kuroda (five), Chad Billingsley (four), Charlie Haeger (three), Randy Wolf (two), Jon Garland, James McDonald, Eric Milton, Vicente Padilla, Eric Stults and Jeff Weaver...Threw out four of 18 potential base stealers, a 22.0 caught stealing percentage...Hit safely in eight straight games to start the season from April 10-May 26, batting .355 (11-for-31) with one double, three RBI and six runs scored...Hit his only home run on July 12 at Milwaukee, a solo shot off Yovani Gallardo...Was the acting manager in the regular-season finale October 4 vs. Colorado...made one mid-inning pitching change, summoning Scott Elbert in the eighth inning for Ronald Belisario

2008

Batted .218 with three homers and 24 RBI in 81 games in his eighth consecutive season with the Astros and his 10th campaign with them overall...was Houston's Opening Day catcher for the ninth time, and went on to start 62 games behind the plate...Did not play in at least 100 games for just the second time in his career, the first since his rookie season of 1993 with San Diego (49 games)...Threw out four of 23 potential base stealers (17.4 percent)...Finished the season with 386 career RBI as an Astro, the second-highest total among franchise catchers behind only Alan Ashby (388 RBI)...Ended the year with 41 home runs as an Astros catcher, the third-highest total among franchise backstops...Appeared twice at first base (April 23 at Cincinnati and June 1 at Milwaukee), and once at both second base (April 2 at San Diego) and third base (June 15 vs. New York Yankees)...Recorded his 1,500th career hit May 12 at San Francisco...banged out a career-high four hits for the 10th time July 27 at Milwaukee, the first time since July 31, 2004 at Cincinnati...scored his 700th career run on Aug. 12 vs. San Francisco...homered in his final game as an Astro on Sept. 28 vs. Atlanta off Mike Hampton

2007

The primary catcher hit .235 (82x349) with three home runs, 16 doubles and 25 RBI...ranked 4th among NL catchers with a .995 fielding pct...committed four errors and had 814 total chances...made his franchise-record eighth Opening Day start at catcher for the Astros on April 2 at PIT, breaking a tie with Alan Ashby (Ashby made seven Opening Day starts for the Astros)...Ausmus has been the starting catcher in the Astros opener for five consecutive seasons from 2003-07 (also 2001, 1997-98)...had six HBP in his first 32 games of the season and ranked second in the NL in the category on May 15...did not record another HBP the rest of the season over his final 87 games...caught eight extra-inning games for the Astros, including six games of 11-or-more innings...caught all 17 innings on July 7 vs. NYM, tying Russell Martin (April 29 at SD) for the most innings caught in a single game this season...was the starting catcher in all six of the Astros shutouts...hit safely in five of those six games, posting a .375 (6x16) average...stole six bases in seven attempts and recorded his highest stolen base total since swiping 11 with Detroit in 2000...his stolen base success rate (85.7%) was tied for the highest mark among NL catchers (Carlos Ruiz, 6x7, 85.7%) and tied for the second-highest mark among MLB catchers (min. five attempts), trailing only Joe Mauer (7x8, 87.5%)...recorded seven putouts on July 22, moving past Gary Carter (11,785) and into sole possession of second on the MLB career list for putouts by a catcher (now at 12,040)...led all NL catchers in hitting in June with a .328 average (min. 50 AB)...hit .368 (14x38) with nine RBI in Interleague games this year...started at second base on Sept. 29 vs. ATL, giving way to Craig Biggio to make the start behind the plate...it marked his first career start at a position other than catcher...swapped spots with Biggio in the third inning and caught the final seven innings...recorded his third home run on Aug. 8, matching his 2005 total...recorded his 100th career stolen base on July 27 to become the 21st catcher all-time with 100 SB...in his 1,800th career game on Aug. 2 at ATL, went 1x5 with two walks and caught all 14 innings...drove in the winning run in the 11th inning with a walk-off RBI single on June 12 vs. OAK...finished 3x5 with four RBI and his first home run of the year...his four RBI were the most since driving in four on Aug. 5, 2006 at ARI...hit .364 (20x55) with 2 HR and 11 RBI in 17 games from June 7-July 1...batted .485 (15x31) during a season-long, eight-game hitting streak from June 7-20 with nine RBI...doubled in three consecutive games from April 18-21 and in five of seven games from April 10-21.

2006

Hit .230 (101x439) with two home runs and 39 RBIs in 139 games for the Astros...led all NL catchers in games caught (138), starts (124), fielding pct. (.998), total chances (994), and innings caught (1124.2)...committed only two errors and allowed only one passed ball...named the recipient of the Darryl Kile Good Guy Award by the Houston Chapter of the BBWAA...recorded his 1,400th career hit on 9/18 vs. CIN...2x6 with two walks on 8/15 vs. CHI and caught all 18 innings...tied for first among NL catchers in walks (45)...3x3 with an RBI on 8/25 at PIT...drove in a run with a squeeze bunt on 8/11 vs. SD...collected seven RBIs in a series of three consecutive Roger Clemens starts (1 on 7/30 vs. ARI; 4 on 7/5 at ARI; 2 on 8/10 vs. PIT)...hit his third career grand slam and Houston's first this season on 8/5 at ARI...walked three times and scored two runs on 8/4 at ARI (0x2)...started at catcher on 7/28 vs. ARI and became the first player to catch 1,000 games for Houston...14-year veteran made his club-record 900th start at catcher on 7/9 vs. STL and has caught more games than any other catcher in franchise history (1,052)...snapped a career-long, 0x40 slump on 7/5 vs. CHI (1x3)...hit his first home run of the season on 6/7 vs. CHI, the only run scored in a 1-0 win...drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in a 3-2 win on 6/15 at CHI...hit .339 in April and .270 in May...3x3 with two stolen bases on 5/2 at MIL, the 3rd multi-steal game of his career...ejected in the 9th inning for arguing balls and strikes on 4/25 vs. LAD (Marquez)...caught at least 100 games for the 11th consecutive season.

2005

hit .258 (100x387) with three home runs and 47 RBI in 134 games...2005 marked his fifth consecutive season as the Astros regular starting catcher....258 average was his highest since hitting .266 for Detroit in 2000.

recorded more walks (51) than strikeouts (48) for the first time in his career.

led all NL catchers in hits in the second half with 66...hit .275 (55x200) in the second half...hit .301 (22x73) in July and .310 (22x71) in August...hit .286 (22x77) with two HR and 10 RBI in September.

multi-hit games and club record

hit .292 (35x120) with two HR and 16 RBI from 8/17 until the end of the season...hit .288 (66x229) with 27 RBI since 7/1.

tied Alan Ashby for the most games caught in franchise history with 901 on 9/17 vs. MIL, setting the club standard on 9/18 vs. MIL...is the club's all-time leader in games (913) and starts (831) at the catcher position...is the franchise career leader at the position in

has caught at least 100 games in each of the last 11 seasons since 1995...leads the Major s in games played, assists, and total chances since 1995.

3x5 and tied his season high with four RBI in a 12-8 win on 9/20 at PIT...also drove in four runs on 8/31 vs. CIN in a 10-0 win...had a season-high three hits on 7/1 at CIN, 9/12 vs. FLA, and 9/20/05.

hit his 3rd home run of the year on 9/15 vs. FLA...also stole his fifth base of the season...also homered on 9/2 vs. STL and 5/23 at CHI...on 7/28 vs. NYM, tied the game with an RBI squeeze bunt and subsequently drove in the game-winning run with a double in the bottom of the ninth.

has 1,307 career hits and ranks 732nd on the MLB career list...ranks 45th all-time among catchers.

led the Majors with a 3.14 catcher ERA (team ERA while in the game at catcher).

posted a season-best, seven-game hitting streak from 8/17-24 in which he hit .429 (9x21)

1x2 and made his first career appearance on 8/14 vs. PIT (turned a double play in the 9th)...is the second Astro to appear at both catcher and shortstop in the same season (Marty Martinez, 1979, 1980) and third to play both during his Astros career...also appeared at second base on 8/31.

leads all active former Ivy Leaguers with 508 career RBI.

2004

Hit .248 with five home runs and 31 RBI in 129 games...started 114 games at catcher...has caught at least 100 games in all of his 11 full Major League seasons...ranks second in most games caught since 1996 (Kendall)...ranks fourth among active catchers in games played (1,443)...Dartmouth alum is the active leader in career RBI among former Ivy Leaguers (461)...tied for fourth in games among catchers since 2001 (530)...made his fourth career trip to the postseason...hit his second career postseason home run in Game 1 of the NLDS vs. Atlanta...batted 1x2 with a run and two walks in Game 4 of the NLDS...started on Sept. 22 at San Francisco, his first start since Sept. 18...missed three games after leaving game in seventh inning on Sept. 18 vs. Milwaukee, one inning after a home plate collision (Podsednik)...diagnosed with a mild concussion...hit his fifth home run of the year on Aug. 30 at Cincinnati (Norton) and had three RBI...drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning RBI single on Aug. 11 vs. the New York Mets...tied his career high with four hits on July 31 at Cincinnati...RBI squeeze bunt gave the Astros a 3-1 lead on June 20 vs. Anaheim...recorded three hits (second time) on June 2 at Chicago...hit .333 (13x39) with one homer and four RBI in 10 games from May 13-26...posted a season-long, seven-game hitting streak from May 13-22 during which he batted .379 (11x29).

2002

Named a Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner for the second consecutive season, becoming the only Gold Glove catcher in Houston franchise history...finished the season tied for first among National League catchers with a .997 fielding percentage...threw out 31 of 96 base stealers (.323)...charged with only two passed balls, the fewest among NL catchers with 100 or more games...pitchers posted a 3.82 ERA with him behind the plate...has caught at least 100 games in all nine of his full Major League seasons...hit .257 (115X447) with six home runs and 50 RBI in 130 games...went 3x4 and collected his 1,000th Major League hit on Sept. 21 at St. Louis...was 2x4 the previous game vs. the Cardinals...had a season-high 10-game hitting streak (4/12-25), batting .250 (11x44)...grounded into his 30th double play on Sept. 21 in the fourth inning, tying the National League single-season record (Ernie Lombardi, Cincinnati, 1938)...notched a career-high tying four hits (eighth time) by going 4x6, including a homer, at New York (NL) on July 30...scored three runs...also had a pair of nine-game streaks (8/18-29; 455, 15x33 and July 21-8/1; .500, 16x32)...hit safely in 14 of 16 games from Aug. 9-29 (.383, 23x60)...had four consecutive multi-hit games from Aut. 19-23...also hit safely in 14 of his first 16 games of the season (.261, 18x69)...was 3x4 on four occasions - on May 26 and Aug. 23 vs. the Reds, June 20 at Milwaukee, and on Sept. 21 at St. Louis...was 10x20 (.500) on the homestand from July 22-28...hit .306 (19x62) in June...hit a three-run homer and collected four RBI in his first game on April 3 vs. Milwaukee...missed the first game of the season due to an inflamed right elbow...had not caught since March 21, but did serve as the designated hitter in a minor league spring training game on March 24.

2001

Earned his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award...started 120 of 162 games behind the plate...threw out 41 of 86 runners attempting to steal (.477), the second highest rate in Major Leagues behind Cincinnati's Jason LaRue (.609, 42x69, min. 60 attempts against)...has caught at least 100 games in all seven of his full Major League seasons...after batting .194 (44x227) before the All-Star Break, batted .277 (54x195) in the second half of the season...went 2x3 with a double, home run and three RBI on September 9 vs. Milwaukee while catching the Astros' only complete-game shutout of the year...batted .313 (25x80) in August, hitting safely in 18 of 22 starts...between August 3 and September 24, hit safely in 28 of 33 starts...posted a season-high nine-game hitting streak from August 3-14 (.361, 13x36) ...had nine extra-base hits during the streak...hit triples in consecutive starts at Florida (August 10 and August 12)...had a career-high three doubles on August 9 at Atlanta (3x4), his third three-hit game of the season...did not play on August 11 at Florida after starting 12 consecutive games behind the plate from July 28 (Game 2) to August 10...hit a one-out single in the 12th inning and later scored the go-ahead run on August 8 at Atlanta in a 2-1 win...went 2x4 with an RBI and two runs scored on July 13 vs. San Diego...hit the 150th double of his career and his second homer of the year (Williams)...scratched from the lineup on June 3 because of an infection to the left eye...an MRI ruled out nerve damage and any blood flow problems...cleared to play after an eye exam on June 4 was normal...stole a base and scored the go-ahead run in a 2-1 win over Los Angeles on June 2.

2000

Appeared in 150 games at catcher, starting 140, the most ever by a Tigers' catcher...threw out 32 of 74 baserunners attempting to steal...his 43.2% success rate was tops in the AL and 2nd in baseball to St. Louis' Mike Matheny (51.1%)...finished in a tie for 5th in fielding percentage in the AL (.992)...committed eight errors in 150 games, three from catcher's interference...hit out of every position in the batting order but fourth....included batting third on April 24 at Anaheim for the first time...finished the season strong, hitting .303 (37x122) in his last 38 games, including 19 runs, eight doubles, a home run and 13 RBI...appeared in the field at a position other than catcher for the first time since July 8, 1995 (San Diego-1B) when he moved from catcher to third base to second base then to first base on October 1 vs. Minnesota...moves allowed Shane Halter to appear in all nine positions in the game.

1999

Enjoyed the best offensive season of his career and was named to his first All-Star squad ... Posted career-best numbers with a .275 batting average, 126 hits, nine home runs, 54 RBI and 170 total basestied his career-best for doubles with 25 ... Played in the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston, catching the game's final four innings, going 0x1 at the plate and throwing out Atlanta's Brian Jordan in the seventh attempting to steal ... Led the AL and ranked second in the majors in fielding percentage among catchers with a .997 mark ... committed just two errors in 124 games this season and amassed a 60-game errorless streak from July 6 to the end of the season ... His 60-game errorless string was the 10th-longest by a Tigers catcher since 1961. Threw out 32-of-91 baserunners attempting to steal ... his 35.2% success rate was fourth-best in the AL and fifth in the majors (numbers do not include pitcher- assisted caught stealing) ... Started 121 games at catcher ... has caught at least 100 games in all five of his full major league seasons ... Reached double-figures in steals for the third straight season and the fourth time in his career ... his 12 steals were four shy of his career-best set in 1995 with the PadresTied for second among Tigers with six triples, the most by a Tigers catcher since 1982 (Lance Parrish ... Became the first Tiger catcher to bat leadoff in a game since Bruce Kimm in 1976 ... led off in a total of seven games ... Hit three homers in both April and June, tying his career-high for a single month.

1998

Placed second in voting for the Rawlings Gold Glove for National League catchers in 1998, six votes behind the Dodgers' Charles Johnson ... Was behind the plate in 124 games for Houston ... Caught thirty-six percent of runners attempting to steal while he was catching, tying him for fifth among the 27 big league catchers with at least 90 games caught ... Started slowly at the plate, batting only .120 in 23 games through the end of April (9x75) ... rebounded to bat .301 in May (22x73) and .333 in June (20x60) ... Hit at a .301 pace from May 1 through the end of the season ... Appeared in all four of the Astros' Division Series games versus San Diegob

1997

Played in a career-high 130 games in 1997 for Houston ... Led the NL in percentage of baserunners caught stealing (44.7%; 38x85), ahead of Florida's Charles Johnson.Started 113 games behind the plate, the most starts by a Houston catcher since Craig Biggio started 131 games at backstop in 1991 ... Had his first career five-RBI day on July 14 at Wrigley Field, which included his first career grand slam in the top of the seventh off Kent Bottenfield ... Cracked a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh against the Cubs on September 25 to break open a 2-1 game in Houston's NL Central Division-clinching victory over Chicago, 9-1 ... Went 2x5 with a double and two RBI in two Division Series games against the Braves.

1996

Started 69 games for Detroit in 1996 after coming over in a June trade and was behind the plate for 26 of the club's 53 wins ... Detroit pitchers posted a 5.50 ERA with him catching (380ER/621.2IP), compared to 7.05 for all other receivers (635ER/811.0IP) ... All four of the Tigers' shutouts came with him behind the plate, including back-to- back efforts by Felipe Lira and Brian Williams on June 21-22, respectively.

1995

Hit a career-best .293 in 1995, the best average by a Padres catcher since Benito Santiago hit .300 in 1987 ... Started 92 of the Padres 144 games behind the plateb

1994

Started 94 of the Padres' 117 games behind the plate in 1994 ... Enjoyed his best success after the All-Star Game, batting .308 (22x72) in 22 games ... Defensively, he caught 28 percent (25x97) of runners attempting to steal.

1993

Opened the 1993 campaign at Triple A Colorado Springs after being taken in the Expansion Draft but made his major league debut after being traded to San Diego ... Was selected by the Rockies from the Yankees in the third round of the draft ... was traded to San Diego on July 26 and recalled immediately by the parent club ... Made his debut on July 28 at Chicago and was the primary San Diego catcher for the remainder of the season ... walked in his first plate appearance then singled off Greg Hibbard for his first big league hit ... Connected for his first career homer on August 4 against the Giants' Greg Brummett ... Nailed 37 percent (18x49) of runners attempting to steal.