Ausmus showed aptitude as youth in Connecticut

Brad Ausmus, Manager, Tigers
Hometown: Cheshire, Conn.

Brad Ausmus is a smart manager -- really smart. Ausmus went to an Ivy League college and even played in the Yankees' farm system while still taking courses after New York selected him in the 1987 First-Year Player Draft.

Ausmus was born in New Haven, Conn., and was a star shortstop and, later, catcher at Cheshire High School. He was also a standout basketball player at Cheshire before going on to Dartmouth College.

His high school basketball coach, Nick Carparelli, told the New Haven Register in August that he knew Ausmus would do big things in life long before the start of an 18-year Major League career.

"He was always the type of kid in control of things -- in control of the game, of a pitcher," Carparelli said. "I think he always knew he wanted to stay in the game [after he retired], whether on the administrative end or as an on-field manager."