Nathan Garrett Bland (born December 27, 1974) is a former professional baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Career

Bland played high school baseball at

Mountain Brook High School Mountain Brook High School (MBHS) is a three-year public high school in the city of Mountain Brook, Alabama USA. It is the only high school in the Mountain Brook City School System. The school's colors are green and gold and the athletic teams a ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

and was drafted by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in the 4th round of the

1993 Major League Baseball Draft The 1993 Major League Baseball draft began with first round selections on June 3, 1993. Alex Rodriguez was selected first overall by the Seattle Mariners. Other notable draftees included Chris Carpenter, Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Scott Rol ...

. He played in the Dodgers system through 1998 before missing the 1999 season with an injury.. He signed with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

for 2000 but was cut at the end of spring training and signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the Independent Northern League. He then played in the farm system of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

and with the independent Chico Heat of the

Western Baseball League The Western Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in the Western United States and Western Canada. Its member teams were not associated with any Major League Baseball teams. It operated from 1995 to 2002. The league was founde ...

before finally making his Major League debut with the Houston Astros in 2003. He appeared in 22 games with the Astros, with a 1-2 record and 5.75 ERA. He later played in the farm systems of the Chicago Cubs and

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

and spent spring training with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. He finished up his career in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

in 2005 and 2007 and played one year in Taiwan in 2008 before retiring.

External links

1974 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Bakersfield Blaze players Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball players from Alabama Binghamton Mets players Chico Heat players Great Falls Dodgers players Houston Astros players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers New Orleans Zephyrs players Potros de Tijuana players Salt Lake Bees players San Antonio Missions players Savannah Sand Gnats players Sioux City Explorers players Vaqueros Laguna players Vero Beach Dodgers players Yakima Bears players Tomateros de Culiacán players Scottsdale Scorpions players Dmedia T-REX players American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub