Brad Ausmus Returns to Baseball

Many Braves fans remember Brad Ausmus as the veteran catcher who tied Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS with a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth.

Atlanta had just captured an unprecedented fourteenth consecutive NL East title and was up 6-5 with one out away from forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 when the Dartmouth alum lofted a fly ball over Andruw Jones’ outstretched mitt in center to force extras. Houston won the 18-inning marathon 7-6 (lasting 5 hours and 50 minutes, it was the longest game in baseball postseason history at the time), effectively ending the Braves’ reign of dominance in the National League.

Meanwhile, Ausmus and the Astros would ultimately win the NL pennant before falling to the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.

Since the ’05 pennant-winning season, Ausmus, who broke into the big leagues with the San Diego Padres in 1993, went on to play five more seasons (three for Houston, two for the Los Angeles Dodgers) before managing the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels.

Unfortunately, a solid and lengthy MLB career behind the plate (Ausmus was a three-time Gold Glove Award-winner who represented Detroit in the 1999 All-Star Game) didn’t translate into managerial success, and he skippered the Tigers to a pair of last-place finishes in 2015 and 2017 before enduring a brutal 72-90 2019 season with the Angels that ended with his firing.

After getting passed over in favor of Dusty Baker for the Houston managerial post in January 2020, Ausmus entered the pandemic unsure of whether he would ever step foot on another big-league diamond.

“With COVID hitting, it turned out to be a fortunate year to have off,” says Ausmus. “I did the same the following year; COVID was still in the mix. It wasn’t until probably late last year that I started making a couple calls about getting back involved in baseball.”

One call was to his good friend Mark Kotsay, who had recently been hired as manager of the Oakland Athletics. This past January — nearly two years to the day that Houston declined to offer him a job — Ausmus agreed to become Oakland’s next bench coach.

“It was my first time off since high school,” said Ausmus, whose maternal grandfather was a rabbi. “I signed out of high school, and I have been in professional baseball with a team every summer until the last two years, when the pandemic hit and I was not involved. It was kind of nice. But at the end of last summer, I was ready to get back involved.”

I signed out of high school, and I have been in professional baseball with a team every summer until the last two years, when the pandemic hit and I was not involved. It was kind of nice. But at the end of last summer, I was ready to get back involved.

It’s been a tough summer for Ausmus (Gabe Kapler, proud member of the Jewish baseball community, manages the local rival San Francisco Giants), as his A’s have been in the cellar of the American League West while the franchise awaits news on its next home. Would he ever consider moving on from baseball now that he’s had the chance to get back in uniform?

“At this point, I’m probably too old to change careers,” says the 53-year-old. “I can’t say I’ve actually thought about doing that. If I had an alter ego, I think that ego might try medicine. I’ve always had an interest in medicine and surgery.”

How about a return to managing Team Israel during the World Baseball Classic (WBC)? Ian Kinsler will lead the Israeli squad this spring, but Ausmus held the post during the 2013 edition of the WBC. Would he ever consider taking on the role should the opportunity present itself?

“I stay in touch with some of the people that started that whole program there in the WBC,” he adds. “Peter Kurz [Team Israel General Manager] is someone who’s been involved in baseball in Israel for decades now, and we still stay in touch and have ever since my experience there. It was actually a blast to do — the inaugural Team Israel, WBC team.

“I’d never say never. Yeah, I might. I kept track of them after I was no longer involved. I watched the WBC teams from Israel that followed. I wouldn’t say that would never happen. It might.”

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