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07/30/2020 12:00 AMMike Tamsin was a three-sport standout who competed for the football, boys’ basketball, and baseball teams at Branford High School. Mike earned numerous accolades during his time with the Hornets, including being named the 2003-’04 New Haven Register Male Athlete of the Year. After graduating from Branford, Mike went on to play baseball at Northeastern University, breaking records that he still holds to this day. For his achievements in athletics, Mike was a 2019 inductee into the Branford Sports Hall of Fame.
“It was a great honor to be recognized for my achievements. It took a lot of people to get me there, so it’s a nice homage to the people who helped me get there,” says Mike. “It was nice for my family. My grandfather Leonard Tamsin was inducted in 2000. It was nice to add another name to the banner and follow in his footsteps.”
Mike grew up as the youngest of three children alongside his sister Jackie and brother Mark. Mike’s brother played hockey and baseball, while his sister played hockey, basketball, and softball. As soon as Mike was old enough to play sports, his two siblings took him to every sporting event they could and made sure that he was ready to compete.
“Sports is just what you did. Sports was just something to do. They were always there,” Mike says. “We were constantly doing something, whether it was playing in my grandmother’s yard, playing football, tennis, baseball, all these different things. It’s just what I always did and, over time, I grew an affinity for it.”
When Mike started high school, he was playing varsity for Branford’s football, basketball, and baseball teams as a freshman. On the football field, Mike earned All-SCC honors by catching 34 passes for 684 yards at the tight end position in his junior season. Unfortunately, Mike suffered a ruptured appendix during the summer before his senior season and had to miss the first two games of the year.
“It was a run of bad luck. I was about to start football camp in six weeks, and it just ended up rupturing. I checked into the hospital at 245 pounds and left at 205. I was kind of a shell of myself throughout the whole year. I never got heavier than 220,” says Mike. “It put everything into perspective. I thought senior year was going to be awesome. I was kind of back at square one. It makes you appreciate the process and builds character. Got knocked down, got to get back up.”
Despite his injury, Mike refused to give up, saying that “quitting is not in the DNA.” Mike knew that he had to work as hard as possible to get stronger for his senior campaign on the basketball court. Mike went on to garner All-State Honorable Mention, along with a spot on the Register’s All-Area Team that year.
On the baseball field, Mike served as Branford’s catcher as a senior after playing first base and the outfield during his first three years. Mike made All-SCC, All-State, and All-Area that season.
Mike’s ruptured appendix occurred in July 2003. However, after grinding his way back to have an all-around outstanding senior year, Mike was presented with the Register’s 2003-’04 Male Athlete of the Year Award.
“More strength back, more weight back. I got more to myself. I wasn’t back all the way. I was still weighing in the mid-230s,” Mike says of his recovery throughout the year. “I continued my success from my junior year into my senior year with baseball. Between that and being a well-rounded athlete, I thought is what helped me win Athlete of the Year.”
In the summer of 2005, Mike was a member of the Branford Senior American Legion team that reached the World Series. Mike was named the MVP of the State Tournament, made the Northeast Regional All-Tournament Team, and also made the World Series All-Tournament Team. He also won the American Legion World Series Silver Slugger Award, which goes to the player who has the highest batting average during the tournament.
After graduating from high school, Mike took a postgraduate year at Choate Rosemary Hall. He had initially signed a Letter of Intent to play football at the College of Holy Cross. Prior to attending Choate, Mike thought he would be playing football in college. However, Mike realized that he had a better opportunity of succeeding at the next level by playing baseball and decided to sign with Northeastern, a Division I school in Boston.
Mike played first base, third base, the outfield, and designated hitter during his four years at Northeastern. For his career, Mike accumulated 271 hits and 382 total bases, which both are still school records. He finished his college career with a .361 batting average (second in school history), 145 RBI (third), 140 runs scored (fourth), and a .444 on-base percentage (fourth). In his freshman year, Mike was named to the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie Team and also made the All-Conference Second Team. As a sophomore, he was an All-New England First Team honoree.
“It’s just a product of being consistent. I was always a high contact guy, didn’t strike out a lot,” says Mike. “Throughout your whole career, you’re going to struggle at points. It’s how you dig yourself out, and I was able to do that.”
As his career unfolded, sports became a major part of Mike’s life. Mike had grown up in an athletic family and was able to translate his talent to success at both the high school and collegiate levels.
“It’s part of my character. It’s a fiber of who I am. I’m an athlete first. Being an athlete is what you do, but it’s also, for me, who I was. It’s just what I put my passion into,” Mike says. “If you’re going to do something, you’re going to do it all-out. Sports were my all-out. I was always doing something. It molded the person you become. You look back on sports on how you should act in life.”
Mike has experienced some of the best moments of his life in Branford. As he takes his place in the Hall of Fame, Mike says that there’s no place he would rather be.
“I’m a Branford guy through and through. My family, both on my mom and father’s side, grew up in Branford. I grew up in Branford. My wife grew up in Branford. I’ve always been a Branford guy,” says Mike. “I went to school at Northeastern. A lot of my buddies are up there in the Boston area. If I wanted to move up there, I could have. But I kept around Branford, because this is where I’m from, and this is where I wanted to be.”