Yankees’ Brad Ausmus on MLB career, Clyde Drexler apology, title quest: ‘Hungriest I’ve ever been’

Yankees bench coach, and longtime MLB catcher, Brad Ausmus takes a swing at some postseason Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.

Q: How hungry would you say this Yankees team is to win a championship for the first time since ’09?

A: It’s been the mantra since spring training, so I’m going to say really hungry.

Q: How hungry are you to get a World Series ring?

A: It’s been 10 years since I’ve been in the playoffs, and it’s been 20 years since I’ve been to the World Series, and I’ve never won one. And I’d like to win one and have a ring before my days in baseball are done. So this is the hungriest I’ve ever been.

Q: Have you visualized what that moment would be like over the course of your career?

A: I visualize things like the dog pile in the field, the champagne celebration in the clubhouse, the parade in the city. But in the moment, like in 2024, I try not to think about it too much, because I don’t like to put the cart in front of the horse.

Q: How painful was getting swept by the White Sox in the 2005 World Series when you were with the Astros?

A: It was tough, but there was also some excitement because it was the first World Series I had been to. So having that experience is fun, but I’m way past beyond just going to the World Series. Now it’s more than ever for me, it’s winning the World Series. I don’t just want to have a taste of it.

Q: How would you describe the Yankee Way?

A: It’s unlike any other franchise in the sense that it really is kind of World Series-or-bust. There’s an expectation in New York to win a championship because of the history of the franchise. And it’s a palpable feeling when you put on that uniform and you’re a member of a New York Yankee team.

Q: Do you recall the first time you put on the pinstripes?

A: It was 1988. I was 19 years old the first time.

Q: How about the second time?

A: Well, the second time was different because now I knew I was going to be with the major league club the entire season. The first time I was in the minor leagues and I did go to a few major league spring trainings, but this was a little different in the sense that I knew I was going to be with the team going into the major league season, and the expectation was to win.

Q: What have you observed about the way Aaron Boone handles the New York market?

A: Regardless of market, the manager’s going to get some grief. But I think Aaron does an excellent job. The one thing about him is he’s extremely genuine. He is who he is. He loves the players, he cares about the players. He understands the importance of winning a championship. The players like him, like I see how they interact with him. I think they actually have a genuine care for Aaron. I think regardless of where you manage, it’s not always going to be smooth sailing, you’re going to have bumps during the course of a seven-month spring training and baseball season. I think Aaron does an excellent job, and I think there’s an honest care for one another in that clubhouse between him and the players.

Q: What will you tell your grandchildren about Aaron Judge?

A: That I witnessed, next to Barry Bonds, the greatest offensive season in my lifetime.

Q: What is it about him that makes him the Captain?

A: Obviously the way he plays is a big factor, but the way he carries himself is just as important. And he as much as anyone, I put him and Aaron in a similar category, understand how important it is to win a World Series in New York City wearing a Yankee uniform. He expects his teammates to understand it as well.

Q: What makes Juan Soto, Juan Soto?

A: There’s not many hitters I’ve seen like him. … I kind of look at him and he’s not quite the contact hitter, but his understanding of hitting. … I played with Tony Gwynn for three years. They’re very similar in the sense that they really understand hitting and their swings. The difference is Juan has more power and a greater ability to get on base. Tony had a greater ability to get hits and put the barrel of the bat on the ball. But they’re very similar, probably the two best at knowing their swings that I’ve been around.

Q: What kind of progress from spring training has Austin Wells made behind the plate?

A: Actually tremendous. There was a little concern at first in spring training, but he quickly alleviated that, and now he’s turned into an excellent receiver, and he’s slowly becoming a leader of the pitching staff as a young catcher which is hard to do.

Q: What is the impact on the field and in the clubhouse of Jazz Chisholm Jr.?

A: He’s really kind of just brought an energy. He’s always in a good mood. He’s always smiling. And that perks up the people around him.

Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

• Sherman: Yankees need to have Aaron Boone’s back in pressure-packed playoffs
• Aaron Judge could ‘add a level’ to Yankees legacy by reversing playoff woes, winning World Series
• Yankees will be without Anthony Rizzo for ALDS in injury crusher

Q: Giancarlo Stanton?

A: He’s a pro. He’s accountable. He goes about his business the right way. He’s up there with Judge as one of the leaders on this team.

Q: It’s a good leadership group?

A: Yeah, very good, very good.

Q: What have you observed about Gerrit Cole?

A: I guess the one thing I did not know about Gerrit is he’s almost kind of a scientist and a pitcher at the same time. He really understands the numbers and himself as a pitcher. He’s very intelligent and very in tune with what he needs to do to succeed.

Q: What has it been like being the bench coach for Aaron Boone?

A: I’ve actually had a blast. Booney uses me as a sounding board in game for strategy, which is probably the thing I like the most, other than the camaraderie, is that in-game strategy making decisions. Won’t always go with what I recommend, but listens at all times. But he is the manager, so he makes the final call. But that’s the part I’ve enjoyed the most. In-game is working through situations and how to get out of them with a win.

Q: Whatever comes to mind: Joe Torre.

A: He was kind of like a father figure for a couple of years for me when I played for him in Los Angeles. Just an extremely nice man, and obviously a great baseball person.

Q: Did his temperament remind you of Boone’s temperament?

A: Joe never really yelled at an umpire. I can’t say that about Booney.

Q: What was it like catching Roger Clemens?

A: Roger was one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. He just treated everyone well. Didn’t matter who you were in the clubhouse, or on the opposing team, he treated everyone well, and then he could be like an S.O.B. when he was on the mound.

Q: Andy Pettitte?

A: I’ve always said about Andy if I needed to pick one pitcher to win a game to save the human race, it would be Andy Pettitte.

Q: Clayton Kershaw?

A: Kersh and I were 20 years apart when we played, but we were very close. He never ceases to amaze me with not only his aptitude for the game but his ability to continue to be one of the best pitchers in history.

Q: Justin Verlander?

A: There’s no one I’ve been around that wants the big stage and bright lights more than Justin, and as a result, I’d take him in Game 7 of the World Series any day of the week.

Q: Mike Trout?

A: Probably the best athlete or certainly top-five athletes I’ve been around. And just a regular guy.

Q: Shohei Ohtani?

A: Greatest talent in the history of the game.

Q: Baseball people rave about his work ethic.

A: The physical part of it, he has to work hard because he plays two positions. But also the mental side. He’s heavily into watching video and analyzing both his swing and his delivery. He’s a very intelligent person and player. He’s the best physical talent I’ve ever seen, I think in the history of the game. I don’t think it’s close, actually.

Q: How did you last 18 years as a catcher?

A: There’s a little bit of luck involved avoiding major injuries. Genetics involved, too, in avoiding major injury. I think I kind of was a known quantity. I’m not going to hit that much, but I can handle a pitching staff and call a game and help control a running game, and if you had a good offensive club, you could stick me at the bottom of the lineup and it might help you win a couple extra.

Q: Someone once called you “the Greg Maddux of catching.”

A: (Chuckle) I never actually heard it, but I’ll take it as a compliment. For the last 10 years of my playing career, I actually did all the scouting reports and amassed the limited data that they had, and tried to coalesce the pitchers’ strengths and the hitters’ weaknesses in the best possible fashion to try and get that pitcher through the game and keep the other team from scoring or scoring as few runs as possible. To say I’m the Greg Maddux of catching, I’m not sure I was, but I’ll take it.

Q: Game 4, 2005 NLDS, bottom of the ninth, your Astros trailed the Braves 6-5. Describe your two-out home run to tie it.

A: Biggest home run of my life. One of my favorite stories from that was Clyde Drexler, the basketball player, told me a year later — he lived in Houston and he would go to the Astros games — he was at that game, and he actually got up and left because I was hitting (laugh). He was in the elevator when I hit the home run. It was almost like he was kind of confessing to me that he messed up.

Q: The Astros won it, 7-6, in 18 innings. Did you catch the entire game?

A: I caught the whole game except for three innings — something happened where the other catcher came in, they put him behind the plate, they put me at first, and then I went back to catch when Clemens came in.

Q: How proud are you of being a three-time Gold Glover?

A: Well, I have the Gold Gloves sitting in my house on a shelf so (laugh), I’m not upset about receiving them. It’s always nice to be recognized by your peers or people in the game.

Q: In 2002 you grounded into 30 double plays?

A: I tied the National League record. And I had two weeks to break the record and I didn’t. And I still blame guys hitting in front of me for not getting on base.

Q: What was your 1999 All-Star Game experience like?

A: That was great. It was in Fenway Park, and I grew up going to Fenway. That was really the one stadium that I went to multiple times as a kid, although I’d gone to Yankee Stadium, too. Fenway was the one I probably saw the most games in as a child, so having the one All-Star game that I went to in Fenway was very meaningful.

Q: Who were your favorite Red Sox players?

A: My favorite player growing up was Jim Rice.

Q: Over the years, who are catchers who impressed you over the past two decades?

A: More recently, J.T. Realmuto because of the athleticism. I’ve always kind of been partial to the athletic catcher — J.T., Russell Martin, guys like that.

Q: When you managed, was it fun, stressful or both?

A: Both. The fun is the camaraderie and the strategy and the competition. There’s some stress, especially when you’re with a team where there’s expectation, you don’t want to let the fans down, so there’s some stress.

Q: You had to follow Jim Leyland in Detroit and Mike Scioscia with the Angels. Any regrets?

A: No, there’s no regrets. It’s a learning process as well, especially in Detroit my first time managing. But I enjoyed my time there, we had two winning seasons, two losing seasons, we had a playoff appearance. I thoroughly enjoyed it, worked with good people. Anaheim, enjoyed it, but it was a short-lived experience, so I didn’t really even have a chance to get my feet completely planted on the ground there. [GM] Billy Eppler and I were kind of working toward something, and it ended rather abruptly.

Q: Why?

A: You’d have to talk to the people above me on that one.

Q: How disappointing was that having the rug pulled out from under you?

A: It was very disappointing, and somewhat unexpected. Going into the last month of the season, this wasn’t even on the radar, it just kind of popped up in the last week of the season, and I think it kind of took Billy by surprise as well. But things happen.

Q: Did you meet George Steinbrenner?

A: Real briefly as a minor leaguer I did, yeah.

Q: What do you remember about him?

A: That he was extremely polite.

Q: Any thoughts on making the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame?

A: It was an honor to be inducted. I’m not in many Hall of Fames, I think that one and my high school Hall of Fame about covers it.

Q: Best Dartmouth memory?

A: I never played at Dartmouth, so all my memories at Dartmouth are with friends. I was in the minor leagues with the Yankees and going to Dartmouth at the same time. It was almost like I had two worlds when I was college age. I’d spend the summer playing, had friends there, then I’d go to college in the fall and winter and have that group of friends.

Q: Why did you major in government?

A: It was one of the easier majors on campus (laugh). I did have some interest in it, but I wouldn’t say I’m heavily focused on the political world these days.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: Jackie Robinson, John Adams, Neil Armstrong.

Q: Favorite movies?

A: “Gladiator,” “Tombstone.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Denzel [Washington].

Q: Favorite actress?

A: Jennifer Aniston.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Pasta or pizza.

Q: Favorite book?

A: I’ve liked Michael Creighton’s books, I’ve read all of his.

Q: Analytics versus what your eyes tell you: Which do you prefer?

A: I think the data’s extremely important, and I would say it’s right, I think, in the neighborhood of 80, 85 percent of the time, it’s really going to point you in the right direction. But there is something to be said about having the ability to make a conclusion based on what your eyes are seeing. Especially in the short term.

Q: Your message to Yankees fans who are equally starving for a championship as the team is and as you are.

A: Enjoy the roller-coaster ride.