From bat man to jackman: Vestal native Mike Osinski switches gears from baseball to NASCAR

Former Vestal High standout Mike Osinski has exchanged his baseball bat and glove for a jack, at least in terms of professional life.

Osinski, 28, has been a member of Stewart-Haas Racing, one of NASCAR's most prominent teams, since January of 2022. His primary responsibility this season has been jackman on the pit crew for the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing NASCAR Cup Series team through an outsourcing program with Stewart-Haas.

Osinski, who has bulked up to a chiseled 6-foot-2, 230 pounds since high school, has filled in for two races this year for Aric Almirola's Cup Series team and three for Chase Briscoe because of suspensions and injuries. Both are Stewart-Haas drivers.

He played at all levels of the minor leagues for the Red Sox, all the way to Triple-A. Over five years he had a combined .272 batting average with six homers in 663 at-bats as an infielder/outfielder. After he was released by the Red Sox, he played for the independent Gastonia Honey Hunters (North Carolina) in the summer of 2021.

Before his pro career, Osinski excelled in baseball and football for head coach Tank Anderson at Vestal, graduating in 2014.

He batted .415 as a senior and went on to play at Longwood University in Virginia, where he compiled a .298 batting average across three seasons. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the 31st round following his junior year. Osinski will soon start online classes to complete his criminology degree from Longwood.

Osinski, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, returned to his home region last weekend for the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. He flew to New York on Friday, visited family and saw friends play when the Binghamton Rumble Ponies hosted Red Sox Double-A affiliate Portland.

After helping in pre-race preparations of the No. 15 car Andy Lally drove to 25th place in the Go Bowling at The Glen, Osinski talked about his transition from baseball to NASCAR.

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Question: What does the jackman do?

Answer: I’m pretty much like the quarterback of the pit stop. It’s pretty much like if I don’t do my job, no one else can do anything else. My job is to get out there and get the car off the ground so the changer gets the tires off. Then I’ve got to put a tire on. Then we run around the other side and I’ve got to get the car off the ground and put another tire on. I’m the most important one. Everything goes off of me pretty much.

Q: How do you like it?

A: It’s been fun. It’s a big learning curve coming from baseball to this. I was with the Red Sox for five years. Getting into this, it’s competitive. With this car it’s a little bit different because you’re not really running in the top pack every week. But when I’ve done the other cars, you’re coming down first time like you need to get him out and you’ve got to gain some spots.

Q: How did this opportunity come about?

A: It was mostly a connection with the Red Sox. Someone knew someone else and they’re like, ‘Hey, this guy might be interested in getting into this.’ I was actually playing independent ball in Gastonia. Charlotte is only about a 30-minute drive and I met with a couple people. I was like, this is a pretty cool opportunity where I can do this for the next 10 to 15 years and I like the Charlotte area. It’s been fun so far.

Q: Do you have much of a racing background?

A: Not really. I really didn’t know a lot about it. The only time I pretty much watched NASCAR was when I went to my grandpa’s house and he had it on back in the days when Jeff Gordon and them were driving. So it really wasn’t in my family too much. When I got into it more and learned about it more, it’s pretty fun.

Q: What made you stop playing baseball?

A: When I was with the Red Sox it was at the time when COVID happened and I came back and it was a situation where I wasn’t getting much opportunity. They released me and I went to Gastonia in the Atlantic League and I hit .360, played really good, but the baseball thing was kind of slowing down for me where I wanted to go look for something else. I got into this and this is pretty cool. I think it was something more stable for me where I could be down in the North Carolina area for a long time.

I’m still around the game all the time down there. I work with some travel organizations. And I still hit here and there too, so I’m still in it quite a bit.

Q: What did you enjoy most about your baseball career?

A: I think it’s just all the people I met. When you come up, you meet so many different people and there’s so many different backgrounds. Without baseball, I wouldn’t have gotten into this. It’s opportunity leads to another opportunity, just getting to know different people.

Q: What have you enjoyed the most about your job in NASCAR?

A: I just think it’s the competition and being able to travel everywhere we go. And still, you meet so many different people. There’s a lot of football players, there’s hockey players, there’s track people. People come from all different stuff here too, so it’s been pretty cool.

Q: What’s the long-term plan?

A: Just do this for as long as I can for right now. I’m trying to get into scouting for baseball. That’s the next goal for me.

Q: What’s been the biggest learning curve?

A: Just know the right situation you’re in. With the 15 car, we try not to make a big mistake on pit road. Just learning different things, not trying to rush. I’m still new. All these guys out here who pit the cars are four to five years plus, so they have way more experience than I do.

Q: What do people not realize about life on a pit crew?

A: I think it’s just the competition and the team mentality. You’re around these guys five times a week, you’re still doing everything, you’re traveling with them. It’s just like any other sport. We go in, we watch film, we work out together, we practice together. You’re with each other all the time.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Vestal's Mike Osinski has made transition from pro baseball to NASCAR