The Detroit Tigers have officially announced their next manager.

Brad Ausmus is the 37th manager in Detroit Tigers franchise history.

Brad Ausmus was a Major League catcher for 18 seasons, including 1996, 1999, and 2000 in Detroit.

Ausmus' career average was .251. He won the Gold Glove Award three times.

Ausmus was working in a variety of roles in the San Diego Padres front office over the last three seasons.

MLB.com gave a glowing review just before the official announcement:

The Detroit Tigers appear to be on the verge of making such a spectacularly smart hire with their new manager that it's hard to know where to start.

First, you'll read plenty about how smart Brad Ausmus is, how he studied at Dartmouth, etc. You'll read that he was a brilliant defensive catcher, that he did a tremendous job preparing his pitchers and convincing them to trust him.

As important as all those things are, they're not what is going to make Ausmus a very good Major League manager. That's going to come with something a lot more basic.

That's his people skills, personality, sense of humor and likability factor. He's off the charts on all those things. In short, to know Ausmus is to like him.

The Detroit Tigers have a very talented team. It seems any manager would love a shot to take them to the next level. Giving the job to a person who has never held a full-time managerial position comes with a certain amount of risk, but I think it's a good move.

Detroit Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski has made a number of great moves during his time with the Tigers. There's no reason to not trust his choice.

Let's just hope this IS another one of his great moves and not a Darko moment.

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