Joe Nathan and Jerry Bell elected to Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame | MLB.com Joe Nathan and Jerry Bell elected to Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame The Minnesota Twins announced today that former Twins right-handed pitcher Joe Nathan and former team President Jerry Bell have been elected to the club's Hall of Fame. So father time is sure ticking fast for Nathan to bolster his career saves total. [34] On June 24, Nathan recorded his 100th career save against the Chicago Cubs, and 99th save with Minnesota. Nathan currently has the highest save percentage in MLB history amongst pitchers with at least 250 saves. after the call. [citation needed], On September 25, 2007, Nathan was named as one of 10 finalists for the "DHL Delivery Man of the Year Award", the third year in a row that he has been a finalist. [16] 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. High School: Pine Bush HS (Pine Bush, NY) He also never led the league in saves, … Somehow, he only made the All-Star team in 3 of those 5 years. He owned the ninth inning for one of the most successful stretches in Twins history, as he was the closer on three different Twins teams that won the AL Central. I conceived a word problem: What is the standard for a Hall of Fame closer and can Joe Nathan meet that standard? [59] Nathan finished his first season with the Tigers making 62 appearances and recording 35 saves in 42 chances, while posting an ERA of 4.81. The Twins... Erstklassige Nachrichtenbilder in hoher Auflösung bei Getty Images In 2010, Nathan underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow and missed the entire season. What I want to ask is: why the heck did it take so long to induct Joe Nathan (or as my Mom calls him, "Joe. Nathan was hit hard in that series, blowing his only save opportunity. Felipe López singled, and Nathan was able to get Miguel Cabrera and Luis Castillo out, but not before Alou scored. [9] 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. He was immediately placed on the 60-day disabled list upon signing to continue recovery from his previous Tommy John surgery. His team fared no better, winning Game 1 behind Jason Schmidt's complete game shutout before dropping the next three. "I always knew there was something special about Twins Territory from the moment I got here in 2004," Nathan said to the crowd. [52], Nathan is currently the Minnesota Twins leader in career saves, with 260. Did you know that Joe Nathan has 377 career saves, currently #7 on the Top 1,000, and his 376 saves in the American League is the second most, behind hall of famer Mariano Rivera (652)? "Until the check came. [34] The Twins won the division on the last day of the regular season, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS as Nathan made one scoreless appearance. However, Nathan did not fare as well in the postseason; in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, with the Twins leading 3–1 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Nathan blew the save when he surrendered a game-tying two-run home run to Alex Rodriguez. [31] He also pitched the 4–3 victory against Japan, again throwing a shutout inning. [29] Nathan had a brilliant second half as he went 6–1 with 18 saves in 20 chances, and posted an ERA of 1.76. Saves so far in 2013, he began his minor League career in class for. News pictures from Getty Images 260 of his 377 career saves in the modern game and that doesn ’ do! 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