After a standout career at Cheshire High, Brad Ausmus was selected in the 1987 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees with the 1,152nd overall pick — sandwiched between luminaries Troy Mentzer and Manny Cervantes, and long after Ken Griffey, Jr. (No. 1 overall), Mike Mussina, Craig Biggio and Albert Belle were off the board.

But by June 2010, when Griffey announced his retirement, Ausmus was the last player from that draft class still standing.

“You take pride in showing up for work, being able to show up for work for almost two decades, in an occupation where it’s tough to stick around,” Ausmus told the Register in October 2010.

Ausmus, born in New Haven, finally retired after the 2010 season. He wound up logging 1,971 career major-league games — 1,938 of them as a catcher, good for seventh all-time — five trips to the postseason, one to the World Series, one to the All-Star Game and none — zero, zip, nada — to the disabled list.

Read Dave Borges' complete story.