As the wind swooped in from Lake Michigan on a rainy Sunday evening in Chicago's South Side, the Houston Astros' Brad Ausmus '91 took his position behind home plate at U.S. Cellular Field. As his cleats dug into the soggy dirt, he watched White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik, who had not connected for a home run throughout the entire regular season, enter the batter's box.
Down early in the game, the Astros had manufactured a miniature miracle comeback in the top of the ninth. There was hope once again -- but, as every Little Leaguer would tell you, the home team gets last licks.
With the bases empty and one man out, Ausmus anticipated a 2-1 curveball from battery-mate Brad Lidge to enter snuggly into his glove. Podsednik read the pitch perfectly and ripped a shot into the center field bleachers for the walk-off homerun, giving the White Sox the victory.
On baseball's biggest stage, it may surprise some that one of the league's best defensive catchers is a Dartmouth alumnus. It may surprise even more that the 12-year veteran and the two-time Gold-Glover never played an inning of college baseball for the Big Green.
"He was the best all-around player that we recruited to Dartmouth during my time," said former baseball coach Mike Walsh, now the Athletic Director at Washington and Lee College. Walsh added that during his tenure Ausmus was first player they recruited away from Harvard, then an upper-echelon team in the Ivy League.
However, higher (or dark, depending upon whom you ask) forces took Ausmus away from the Dartmouth baseball team -- the New York Yankees. Drafted in the 47th round of the Major League Baseball Entry Draft, the Yankees retained the rights to Ausmus, but he was still eligible to play college baseball because he had not signed a professional contract.
"I was being recruited by many colleges beginning as early as my sophomore year in high school," said Ausmus in an interview with the Dartmouth. "My senior year, I thought there was a chance I could be drafted by an MLB team, but never considered it seriously until I received a call from the Yankees."
"We spoke with the Yankee GM and he said they were not going to make a serious effort to sign Brad," said Walsh. Therefore, Dartmouth made sure that they could get Ausmus to commit to the Big Green so that powerhouse schools like Stanford, Notre Dame, or Vanderbilt would not take him away during the summer.
According to Walsh, a Yankees scout, Paul Turco, "did his homework" and had an epiphany that Ausmus was very much worth signing. "They made him a sweet offer," said John Ross '91, a captain of the Dartmouth team his senior year and a close friend of Ausmus'. Two to three weeks before enrolling at Dartmouth, Ausmus signed with the Yankees, consequently forfeiting his eligibility to play NCAA baseball.
"It was a tough decision to sign," said Ausmus.
Ausmus never once considered deserting his unsigned classmates and took the opportunity to be a volunteer coach and bullpen catcher for the Big Green during his four years at Dartmouth. "We had the greatest bullpen catcher in the history of the Ivy League," said Walsh.
"The only reason I worked out with the team and caught in the bullpen was for the bonding experience," explained Ausmus. "Most of my friends were on the baseball team. Sports teammates become families off the field." Ausmus also joined Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity, the traditional home of Dartmouth baseball players.
"It was great," said Ross on Ausmus' involvement with the team. "He was always looking for someone when we couldn't practice because of NCAA rules. When there was a foot and a half of snow, he showed up at my room with a bat in his hand saying, 'Let's go hit some balls.'"
When asked about his most memorable Dartmouth experience, Ausmus specified that, "being blindfolded and dropped off in the middle of New Hampshire during pledging with Rob D'Amore and having to find our way back to campus is one I laugh about often."
After graduating with a B.A. in government, Ausmus entered the major leagues in 1993 with the San Diego Padres via a trade from the Colorado Rockies, who acquired his rights in the 1992 expansion draft. After playing 48 games in his rookie campaign, he stayed on for two more full seasons with the Padres until he was sent to the Detroit Tigers. He bounced from the Tigers back to the Padres and then to the Astros playing for one team for no more than two seasons at a time until settling in Houston in 2001.
As only the second Ivy League catcher to play in a World Series since John "Chief" Meyers did it with the Brooklyn Robins in 1916, Ausmus is not letting the hype get to his head. "There isn't anything that I am not prepared for in the World Series," he said. "It is still the same game, just more hoopla surrounding it."
The Astros enter Game 3 at Minute Maid Park in Houston down 2-0 to the White Sox, and the statistics show that over 75 percent of teams up 2-0 have gone on to win the Series. However, Ausmus cites recent history to qualify his confidence in his team. "This is a best of seven series. We were down 0-2 to St. Louis in the '04 NLCS and three straight to take the lead in the series." He added, "Look what the Red Sox did against the Yankees last year."
According to classmates at least, Ausmus will be up to the challenge during a pivotal stage in the Series. "He has a crazy, crazy competitive drive," said Ross. Only time will tell, however, if there will be a tint of Green on the World Series Trophy.
