Joe Nathan To Retire a Minnesota Twin
You may remember him as some random dude we traded our All-Star catcher for. It may be that you remember him as the best closer in Minnesota Twins history. That is exactly what Joe Nathan is, and he will retire a Twin on Friday.
To say Nathan's career wasn't amazing is just a lie. Nathan recorded 260 saves in his career with the Twins, and 377 in his career. He was included in the trade that sent A.J Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants. The trade also brought over Fransico Liriano and Boof Bonsor.
Yes, it is safe to say the Twins won that trade.
Nathan was the centerpiece of the deal, and the cornerstone of the bullpen for the Twins for seven seasons, in which the Twins made the playoffs in 3 of those seasons.
Nathan was almost sure fire to save the game, after putting knots in your stomach by walking a man and giving up a double.
You always knew Nathan was cool, calm and collected, though, just by watching him take a deeeeep breath and dropped a slider down and out to secure the victory.
Congrats on a great career, and happy to hear he is retiring with the Twins, it just feels right considering he has the most saves in Twins history!