at Southern Connecticut State University, and the author of A Schopenhauerian Critique of Nietzsche's Thought, which Ausmus calls his "favorite book." Ausmus' mother was raised in a Jewish household, and he said in an interview that those values were instilled in him. He takes pride in his heritage. Ausmus stated in an interview with the Jewish Journal: "I wasn't raised with the Jewish religion, so in that sense I don't really have much feeling toward it. But, however, in the last 10 or so years, I have had quite a few young Jewish boys who will tell me that I am their favorite player or they love watching me play or they feel like baseball is a good fit... I'm all for it." In 2001, he did not play on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, quipping that he "was trying to atone for my poor first half." Ausmus was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Ausmus and his wife, Liz, were married in 1995. They live in New Haven, Connecticut, and have two daughters, Sophie and Abigail. High school Ausmus was a star in baseball at Cheshire High School; as a freshman he was a teammate of National Hockey League defenseman Brian Leetch, who was then a pitcher on the school's Connecticut state championship team in 1984. As a sophomore Ausmus played shortstop and batted .327. As a junior (when his coach moved him to catcher) he hit .436, and as a senior he hit .411 and was named the Cheshire Area High School Player of the Year. He was named to the All-State team both his junior and senior years. Ausmus was also a standout athlete in high school as a basketball guard. Academically, Ausmus scored a 1220 on his SAT exam. Draft and college Ausmus initially declined to sign with the New York Yankees after the 1987 draft in which the team picked him in the 48th round, instead choosing to pursue another childhood dream, that of attending Dartmouth College. Though he had initially declined to sign with the team, he relented and signed when the Yankees allowed him to attend classes at the Ivy League school, while playing in the minor leagues during his off terms. (Dartmouth has a quartered academic calendar, which allowed Ausmus some flexibility.) Given NCAA rules barring paid professional athletes from playing college sports, Ausmus could