In Other News, Gary Busey Picked Up an Academy Award

According to the Chronicle, Brad Ausmus has been awarded his third Gold Glove for his defensive excellence behind home plate for the Astros in 2006. Congratulations from H-Town Sports, Brad. Apparently, "defensive excellence" for catchers can now be defined by throwing out exactly 17 of 77 (22%) of would-be basestealers in a season. [Note: stats from MLB.com, not the Chronicle, which listed Ausmus at 12 for 72 (17%)]. Ausmus threw out less baserunners than any regular NL catcher other than Mike Piazza and Damien Miller, despite catching 80+ more innings than any other NL catcher. Of course, defensive production is just gravy for the Astros when it comes to Ausmus, who posted a career-low .285 slugging percentage in 2006.