Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cubs. Nathan started out his baseball career as a shortstop in high school and in college for Stony Brook, but converted to a pitcher after being drafted by the Giants. He worked his way through the minor leagues, alternating between spots in the rotation and the bullpen.
When he debuted in 1999, he became the first player from Stony Brook to reach MLB. After a few years of splitting time between the major leagues and minor leagues, Nathan had a breakout season as a setup man for the Giants in 2003. That offseason, Nathan was traded to the Twins and became their closer. From 2004 to 2009, Nathan was considered one of the top closers in the major leagues, with four All-Star selections and a league-leading 246 saves. Nathan finished fourth in American League (AL) Cy Young voting in 2004 and fifth in 2006.
In 2010, Nathan underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow and missed the entire season. Nathan regained the role as closer in July 2011. On August 10, 2011, he became the Twins all-time leader in saves with his 255th in a game against the Boston Red Sox. After the 2011 season, Nathan left the Twins via free agency to sign with the Rangers, becoming an All-Star again in 2012 and 2013. On April 8, 2013, he earned his 300th save. After the 2013 season, Nathan signed with the Tigers. Nathan retired during the 2017 season with the eighth-most saves in MLB history.
Nathan currently has the highest save percentage in MLB history (89.13%) amongst pitchers with at least 200 saves. From a ten year span of 2003 to 2013, he was among the top three best relievers in terms of ERA+, ERA, WAR, and WHIP.
Although born in Houston, Nathan moved with his family to Middletown, New York, when he was just two weeks old.
Nathan graduated from Pine Bush High School in Pine Bush, New York, in 1992, where he played basketball and baseball and ran track. Only Division III colleges showed minimal interest in him, and he ended up at Stony Brook University largely because his high school assistant coach Jeff Masionet and Stony Brook baseball coach Matt Senk knew each other as former teammates in the State University of New York at Cortland baseball program.
Nathan first played shortstop for the then Division III Stony Brook Patriots (now Division I and called the Seawolves) at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York. He also played for the Fairfield Stallions in the New England Collegiate Baseball League in 1994. Nathan became a two-time Academic All-American and graduated as a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. During his tenure at Stony Brook, professional baseball scouts began to notice his good arm and pitcher's body. Senk arranged for a game in front of scouts, but on a day that "literally someone from every organization" came to watch him pitch, the game was rained out. The scouts had to settle for watching Nathan in a throwing session. Nathan was drafted in the sixth round (159th overall) of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants and signed the next day, June 2.
In 2006, Nathan's number 22 was retired by Stony Brook, the first athlete to receive that honor from the school, and he was awarded the University Medal, the highest recognition given by Stony Brook. He was also inducted into the Stony Brook Hall of Fame in the class of 2006.
In August 2008, he gave the Stony Brook athletics department $500,000 for a new baseball facility. In recognition of this "lead gift" from the Joe Nathan Charitable Foundation, the college named their new baseball stadium Joe Nathan Field.
Nathan began his minor league career for the Single-A Bellingham Giants. After an unsuccessful year at the plate, the Giants tried to convert Nathan into a pitcher, but he refused and left to return to Stony Brook for a year, graduating with a degree in business management. He gave more thought to his future in baseball, however, and after graduation decided to return to the Giants organization and developed into a standout pitching prospect. After a season with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, he pitched for both the A and AA levels for (the San Jose Giants and Shreveport Captains) in 1998 as a starter. During his tenure with San Jose he started 22 games with an ERA of 3.32 and 118 strikeouts, leading the Class A Giants to the California League championship. Promoted to Double-A Shreveport in 1999, he pitched in only two games before being promoted to the parent club in 1999.
San Francisco Giants (1999–2003)
Nathan was promoted to the San Francisco Giants on April 20, 1999, taking the roster spot of superstar slugger Barry Bonds, who went on the disabled list after left elbow surgery. He made his major league debut the next day, pitching seven shutout innings and winning his first major league decision against the Florida Marlins, 4–0. He then divided the rest of the season between the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies and the Giants. With the Grizzlies, he was 6–4 with a 4.43 ERA in 13 starts. In the majors, Nathan was 7–4 with one save and a 4.18 ERA in 19 games (14 starts) with the Giants. He earned his first career save on May 16 against the Houston Astros.
After a short stint in the minors in 2000, Nathan spent most of the season in the majors, finishing 5–2 with a 5.21 ERA in 20 games (15 starts), and even hitting two home runs. However, he struggled with his control, walking 63 batters in 931⁄3 innings. He was on the disabled list twice: from May 17 to June 6 for right shoulder tendinitis and from July 14 to August 18 for an inflamed right shoulder, necessitating arthroscopic surgery on the afflicted shoulder at the end of the season. Nathan divided 2001 between Triple-A Fresno and Double-A Shreveport both starting and relieving, finishing with a disappointing combined 3–11 record and an ERA of 7.29 in 31 games (17 starts). Nathan improved slightly in 2002 to 6–12 with a 5.60 ERA in 31 games (25 starts) with Fresno, but finally overcame his postsurgical struggles to return to the Giants in September with 32⁄3 scoreless innings in relief.
Nathan spent all of 2003 with the Giants in the bullpen after marrying Lisa Lemoncelli, his girlfriend of five years, in November 2002. This was a breakout year for Nathan, as he began the season with 23 scoreless innings. He finished the season with a 12–4 record and a 2.96 ERA in 78 relief appearances. His 78 appearances put him high on the list of most-used pitchers for the season as one of the best setup men in the NL, allowing no runs in 15 appearances from July 18 to August 20. His 12 wins in relief led the majors. The Giants won the National League West by 151⁄2 games and drew the Florida Marlins, the National League's wild card winner, in the NLDS. Nathan was hit hard in that series, blowing his only save opportunity in Game 2. His team fared no better, as they won Game 1 behind Jason Schmidt's complete game shutout before dropping the next three.
Nathan was traded to the Minnesota Twins on November 16, 2003, along with pitchers Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano for catcher A. J. Pierzynski and cash. The Twins decided to make Nathan their closer starting in 2004, a risky move considering that Nathan had notched only one save in six opportunities as a Giant, but he won the job over J. C. Romero and Jesse Crain in spring training. He was signed to a three-year deal on March 4, 2004, and agreed to an incentive-laden contract with a base salary of $440,000. He started off the season strong, allowing no runs in 20 appearances and earning 14 saves from April 15 to June 4. He was named AL Co-Player of the Week starting on May 10 with four saves in four innings and four appearances, facing the minimum number of batters each time. His credentials for the first half of the season, 23 saves in 24 opportunities with a 1.19 ERA in 26 appearances, earned him his first All-Star appearance in the 2004 MLB All-Star Game. He was the only Twin on the squad and pitched a perfect seventh inning, getting Bobby Abreu to strike out, Mike Lowell to fly out and Miguel Cabrera to strike out. His numbers were impressive through the rest of the season, allowing no runs between June 9 and August 18, and between August 25 and September 16. Nathan finished the season 1–2 with 44 saves in 47 opportunities and an ERA of 1.62 in 73 relief appearances. The Twins won the AL Central and faced the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Nathan picked up his first postseason save in Game 1, but blew his second opportunity in Game 2 as the Twins went on to lose the ensuing three games. His outstanding season earned him MVP and Cy Young votes, finishing fourth for Cy Young and 12th for MVP. His first child, a son named Cole, was born on November 9, 2004.