Zachary Aubuchon is a comedian who lives in Nashville, tours all over the country for his job and has a strong following of 448,000 on Instagram. But a funny thing happens when he checks the app.
“My whole Instagram feed is him! It’s hard not to comment, ‘I know that dude’ whenever I see a different post!”
That Dude is Jacob Misiorowski − a childhood friend from back home. And Misiorowski’s fan following on the same platform is growing by the day. For example, his 70,300 followers on June 13 has climbed to 92.3K on July 7.
But here’s the cool thing: With Misiorowski, it’s a two-way street. From music to art to card-collecting and all of his other interests and hobbies, Misiorowski also is a fan when he’s not fire-balling fastballs at 105 mph past bewildered batters. And by being that guy, he makes even more fans from all corners of the world.
And it’s created a little online community of fans and followers of The Miz that is likely to grow as the super phenom heads to his second All-Star game.
Take, for instance, Ike Winter, the woodworking artist made famous for creating all the team logos for the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay. He was at Christian Yelich’s charity concert in June.
“I was taking a photo with Yelich and Jacob just came up like, ‘Hey, are you the guy that did the NFL draft artwork?’” Wynter said. “And he said the artwork’s cool …
“So, I’m part of that fandom. He’s just a cool young kid in Milwaukee and who’s just very humble and he’s crushing it.”
Another famous content creator and artist had a similar introduction to Misiorowski.
Known by the nickname “stitchgod” on Instagram, and who’s real name is Paul, this artist creates custom, one-of-a-kind sports jerseys that he calls Scramble jerseys (the lettering looks a little like the game). And now he’s a fan of Misiorowski – after The Miz became a fan of his.
“He actually followed me before I even realized who he was, lol,” Paul said through Messenger.
Stitchgod/Paul tries to keep his identity anonymous but the creator still found an audience with Misiorowski.
“I try to keep myself a secret kinda,” Paul said. “’Cause when I started it became a thing that what I do is more important than who I am. And it still is. Like Banksy [the anonymous street artist] or Slipknot [the band behind masks or clown makeup] the message is bigger than the person.”
And the art is this: “I’m a metal head and I wanted to bring my two worlds of sports and metal music into a one of a kind piece of wearable art.”
Stitchgod created a special jersey for Misiorowski.
“I tried to surprise him actually; told him the concept and he said let’s go,” Paul said.
“And I just messaged him before they came to Seattle last year and said let’s get it done. Says a lot about him as a big leaguer, too. All the shine was on him − and he was just as excited to meet me as I was to meet him. He made a fan for life that day.”
Misiorowski also is earning fans the old way, of course. By winning. And throwing in spectacular fashion.
But he’s also winning people over in a slower way, more personal, one by one.
Brent Hammer is a content creator for Duke University’s sports teams based in North Carolina, but he also works in minor-league baseball. And back when Misiorowski played in Wilson, North Carolina, for the Warbirds in the Class A League, Hammer noticed Misiorowski would sign autographs for an hour after games in a rural town where most of the kids did not yet know who pitcher was.
“He was 6-foot-7, and he was throwing 102 miles an hour, so that helped,” Hammer said. “He still made a point to make that moment for those kids − even though he was at a low level and had such a long road ahead.”
But Misiorowski’s natural curiosity for other hobbies has drawn him to a world outside of baseball. And people can’t help liking Misiorowski after meeting him in person − even when, or maybe especially when, they learn about his hobbies.
Will Robeson is a sports-card collector, trader and seller who runs Southpaw Sports Cards who was connected to Brewers pitcher Jared Koenig. Robeson mainly sells sports cards but Misiorowski was interested in a different kind of card: Pokemon.
“I had a Charizard Pokemon card and that was the only thing that Jacob and his fiancé wanted to see,” Robeson said. “I knew he collected cards and he’s just such an unsuspecting kind of goofy guy.
“You know, I just looked up and there’s this, you know, 6-foot-8 or 6-10, whatever he is, guy standing at my table. Shook my hand and I met his girlfriend and they were just very nice. Very, very kind. You would never suspect that I’m talking to an All-Star pitcher, Cy Young finalist-type of guy.”
Misiorowski had his eye on Robeson’s 1996 Pocket Monsters Japanese Charizard Holo PSA 9 card, which is “pretty rare” because the Pocket Monsters set predated the Pokemon cards that we know today.
“Jared [Koenig] brought it to my table at a show last year and traded it for some 49ers cards I had,” Robeson said. “I didn’t know Jared was a major leaguer until I went to his table later and talked to him! Very nice and unsuspecting guy as well.”
That’s partly what makes Misiorowski so popular in Wisconsin. The fan base here celebrates success but also needs its sports heroes to reflect their values and morals, or at least the ideal prospects of them.
“The fact that he’s tying in the pop-culture world with the fans and his love for Pokemon and stuff is like such a cool, side note,” said Wynter, who was born and raised in Milwaukee. “Everyone’s just partaking in that appreciation that a kid who’s as humble and energetic is chasing greatness and he’s already achieving things that no other pitcher has ever done before.
“I think anytime Milwaukee – the Bucks or the Brewers − gets to spotlight a top-tier player, it hits different because we don’t have the dollars to buy MVPs. It’s very surreal, going to MLB’s social media or website and they’re talking about the pitcher in Milwaukee, you know? He’s the talk of the MLB.”
To Aubuchon, the comedian, who grew up in Grain Valley, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, it’s also very surreal.
“I’ve known Jacob since preschool and honestly we weren’t super close or anything but we had a lot of mutual best friends growing up, so I always saw him,” Aubuchon said. “I was also the baseball manager our freshman year when he was a freshman getting varsity reps.”
Watching Misiorowski’s popularity rise so rapidly has been fun for him, and becoming a fan has been a new experience.
“It’s super cool to see someone else from my hometown making a name for themselves, and he’s definitely doing it better than I am!” Aubuchon said. “It’s crazy we’re from the same town and graduated in the same class. He’s just absolutely dominating, I love seeing everything he’s doing.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski winning fans with unique hobbies | Lori Nickel
Reporting by Lori Nickel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Lori Nickel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
