Nathan Patterson (born February 5, 1996) is an American former professional baseball player. Patterson attracted national media attention for throwing a fastball at 96 miles per hour in a carnival-style pitching game at a ballpark, video of which became popular and directly led to the signing of a minor league contract with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. He later played in the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

organization before retiring.

Early life

Patterson was born in 1996 in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. His mother is a long-time nurse and real estate agent and his father a former high school baseball coach in Overland Park, Kansas.Scott Ostler
"'This is real': How A's Nathan Patterson went from sales to slinging fastballs,"
''San Francisco Chronicle,'' vol. 155, no. 209 (Aug. 13, 2019), pp. B1, B6. He played baseball as a middle

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

on the

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

team at Overland Park, but suffered a fracture in the elbow of his throwing arm during his junior year and never recovered sufficiently from the injury to resume his high school career. He enrolled in a local community college before leaving to start his own landscaping business. Patterson moved to Austin, Texas, in the summer of 2015 and met his girlfriend, with whom he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, in January 2018. There he worked as a salesman of computer software.

Professional career

In August 2018, Patterson was attending a

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

game with his father and a friend, who convinced him to throw in a speed pitch game set up on the concourse of

First Tennessee Park First Horizon Park, formerly known as First Tennessee Park, is a baseball park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The home of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the International League, it opened on April 17, 2015, and can sea ...

. Patterson recalled:

"I hadn’t thrown a ball in years. We're all hanging out, having a great time. My friend and dad go, 'Hey, let's go in the speed-pitch and throw a ball.' All right, let's go have a little fun here.

"My buddy hit 65 (mph), something like that. I stepped in next, first ball was 90, I was blown away. Honestly, I thought it was a joke, I thought they just jacked up the gun just to make you pay another dollar to throw another ball. I threw about five balls, and the last one I threw was 96 miles an hour. It just blew my mind, honestly."

The impressive velocity inspired Patterson to resume training for a possible return to baseball. He signed with a sports agent who put him in touch with Jarrod Parker, a former pitcher for the A's, who worked with Patterson on his pitching technique. Patterson's long-shot effort was sidetracked in December 2018 when he was hit by a car and forced to undergo surgery on his left, non-throwing wrist. Having assured himself that he was on the path to full recovery, Patterson contacted the

, parent major league team of the Nashville Sounds, in February 2019 and joined an amateur baseball team to hone his skill. On July 15, 2019, Patterson made a trip to Coors Field, home of the major league

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

and lit up another fan-pitch speed booth with another 96 mph fastball. Video of his achievement came to the attention of pitching talent evaluator

Rob Friedman Rob Friedman (born 1950) is an American media executive. He was the Co-Chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, overseeing all aspects of Lionsgate’s domestic and international feature film acquisition, production and distribution as well ...

, known as "the pitching ninja," and a few days later Patterson was contacted by the A's with an offer for an entry-level minor league contract. Video of Patterson had previously been featured on Friedman's FlatGroundApp in January 2019.

Oakland Athletics

Patterson signed a contract with the Oakland Athletics on July 31, 2019."Nathan Patterson Stats, Highlights, Bio,"
Minor League Baseball.com He was assigned to the Athletics Green of the Arizona League on August 5 of that same year. He was reassigned to the Athletics Gold on August 15 and pitched in his first professional game that evening. He struck out all three batters he faced. In addition to a fastball, Patterson features a slider clocked in the 80s. On November 18, 2020, Patterson was released by the Athletics.

Milwaukee Brewers

On February 2, 2021, Patterson signed a minor league contract with the

organization. He appeared in five games for the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitching innings of relief while accumulating a 13.50 earned run average. He elected to retire from baseball on May 27, 2021.

References

External links

"Nathan Patterson Stats, Highlights, Bio,"
Minor League Baseball.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Nathan Living people 1996 births Baseball players from Kansas City, Missouri Sportspeople from Overland Park, Kansas Arizona League Athletics players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players