Joe Nathan coming back to Target Field to announce his retirement

[Craig Arko]

Friday.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/joe-nathan-to-formally-announce-retirement.html

[Squirrel]

Good luck and congratulations, Joe!

[big dog]

Absolutely dominant- loved to see Joe on the mound.  Congratulations on an outstanding career.  Thanks for the memories.

[Thrylos]

He will retire as a Twins' player, which means that he will sign a minor league contract with the Twins as well.  Wanted to pitch this season, but could not find a place.  Suspect that his stuff is not much worse than (let's say) Perkins's at this point...

[DaveW]

 

He will retire as a Twins' player, which means that he will sign a minor league contract with the Twins as well.  Wanted to pitch this season, but could not find a place.  Suspect that his stuff is not much worse than (let's say) Perkins's at this point...

Not everything is about your and Perkins ya know!

Nathan was awesome, great pitcher and even greater guy, met him once at a bar in NYC, one of my all time favorite Twins players, he should definitely go in the Twins Hall of Fame, truly dominant before his injury, 1.87 ERA 11k/9,  average of 40+ saves a year.

I would consider retiring his number as he is by far the best Twins RP of all time.

[sftwinsfan]

I miss the days where the Twins had Nathan and Rincon, if they were ahead after 7 it was over.  When Joe was on he was dominant.  Was fun to see.

[Brock Beauchamp]

A vastly underrated reliever who doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves.

[IndianaTwin]

I read that he's going to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday night. Too bad they can't find a way to have him through the ceremonial LAST pitch. If I had tickets, I'd certainly stay around to see it.

 

Two specific memories that I'll remember -- first, the "pbbbbttt" of his exhale as he would take his final deep breath before going to the set position. It reminded me of a horse, which seemed fitting given the way he carried the team at times. 

 

Second, my sons were about 10 in the midst of his years wit the Twins. We went to a lot of games in away stadiums (Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, etc.). I'm not an unbiased observer, but from my perspective the Twins bullpen was far and away the best bunch among any teams for signing autographs, and it always felt like Nathan (and Rincon) set the tone for the group. I had to think that the response from others was, "If our leader can sign for kids, I can too." Always a gentleman to my sons, and he would even give a small toward the camera. 

[Jerr]

I have a Son named Nathan, bought a Joe Nathan jersey for him with the NATHAN on the backside. My Son wore it to all the Twins' games we attended.

Good career and many thanks for a lot of great memories, Joe!!!!!

[Blackjack]

Joe Nathan saved a lot of games for the Twins and I hated to see him struggle after he left the Twins.  He had made his money, it was time to retire.

[nicksaviking]

Leave it to the Twins to sign a guy who up and quits during a playoff run!

 

Congrats Joe.

[Craig Arko]

[D. Hocking]

This is kind of a nice pic.

 

[Squirrel]

Still as handsome as ever! ❤️

[flpmagikat]

 

This is kind of a nice pic.

 

 

Wow he is really tall. Who is on the far left?

 

[stringer bell]

Joe is my all-time favorite reliever. He had a great run with the Twins and is my pick as the best Twins' closer of all time.

[D. Hocking]

 

Wow he is really tall. Who is on the far left?

 

Drew Butera.

[spinowner]

 

A vastly underrated reliever who doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves.

Not vastly underrated by Twins fans, I daresay, but if Mariano Rivera hadn't had his peak concurrently with Nathan and if Rivera hadn't been a Yankee he would have received more recognition as the dominant closer that he was.

[Aaron Cross]

He was a good pitcher for us, but my memories of him will always be his failings when it mattered most.

 

IIRC, he blew a few saves in August 2008 which ultimately cost them the division. Then had the audacity to whine that home field advantage for the tiebreaker was decided by a coin flip. Had he done his job it wouldn't have mattered.

 

And 2009 ALDS game 2 when he grooved a 3-0 fastball to A-Rod. Just a horrible pitch at the worst possible moment. The team had fought so hard in that game, only for Nathan to fall apart at the end. Then he had the audacity to blame Cuzzi's bad call for losing the game.

 

Part of judging a player's career is how they do in the big spots. He had a good career but tarnished by a handful of chokes in big games. And not taking responsibility for them either.

 

Guess I'm on a roll so I'll keep piling on. He signed for big money in Detroit and stunk. Then talked bad about their fans for booing them. Even gave them the finger once IIRC. Sorry Joe, you stink, you get booed. Take it like a man without lashing out at the people paying your salary.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

He was a good pitcher for us, but my memories of him will always be his failings when it mattered most.

IIRC, he blew a few saves in August 2008 which ultimately cost them the division. Then had the audacity to whine that home field advantage for the tiebreaker was decided by a coin flip. Had he done his job it wouldn't have mattered.

And 2009 ALDS game 2 when he grooved a 3-0 fastball to A-Rod. Just a horrible pitch at the worst possible moment. The team had fought so hard in that game, only for Nathan to fall apart at the end. Then he had the audacity to blame Cuzzi's bad call for losing the game.

Part of judging a player's career is how they do in the big spots. He had a good career but tarnished by a handful of chokes in big games. And not taking responsibility for them either.

Guess I'm on a roll so I'll keep piling on. He signed for big money in Detroit and stunk. Then talked bad about their fans for booing them. Even gave them the finger once IIRC. Sorry Joe, you stink, you get booed. Take it like a man without lashing out at the people paying your salary.

Joe Nathan blew 9% of his save opportunities with the Twins. That's an elite, dominant number. I haven't crunched the numbers but I'm rather certain it's better than any Twins closer in history.

 

But hey, go ahead and remember how he failed so rarely instead of all those dominant years he posted in a Twins uniform.

 

I mean, it's totally Nathan's fault that Gardenhire tried to get a spot start out of him in extra innings at Yankee Stadium that one time.

 

Oh, and nice job calling out Nathan for his "big money" contract in Detroit when he was 39 years old and injured much of the time. Let's just ignore that dominant stretch he had in Texas after leaving Minnesota.

[Aaron Cross]

I'm just stating my opinion. Always love how ripping the wrong player and the claws come out with some people. Sure, statistically he was our best reliever ever. But is he the guy I'd want on the mound closing game 7? Nope.

 

I made no mention of the 2004 outing that Gardy left him out there for three innings. I don't hold that against him. But he faltered late in 2008. Four blown saves in 30 days. That's forgivable. But to whine about the coin flip after he was a major reason it came down to a coin flip? Unimpressive.

 

But the defining moment in his career was the A-Rod HR. He was on that mound trembling in fear. Throwing that meatball on a 3-0 count, after the way his team battled that night. In baseball terms, an unforgivable sin. Then the gall to blame the game on Cuzzi. He embarrassed himself even more.

 

Careers are defined in the pennant race and in the playoffs. And that's where he failed. All the shiny regular season stats can't cover that up.

[Squirrel]

I'm just stating my opinion. Always love how ripping the wrong player and the claws come out with some people. Sure, statistically he was our best reliever ever. But is he the guy I'd want on the mound closing game 7? Nope.

I made no mention of the 2004 outing that Gardy left him out there for three innings. I don't hold that against him. But he faltered late in 2008. Four blown saves in 30 days. That's forgivable. But to whine about the coin flip after he was a major reason it came down to a coin flip? Unimpressive.

But the defining moment in his career was the A-Rod HR. He was on that mound trembling in fear. Throwing that meatball on a 3-0 count, after the way his team battled that night. In baseball terms, an unforgivable sin. Then the gall to blame the game on Cuzzi. He embarrassed himself even more.

Careers are defined in the pennant race and in the playoffs. And that's where he failed. All the shiny regular season stats can't cover that up.

As you were stating your opinion, Brock was stating his. This isn't about claws coming out but disagreeing.

[ewen21]

All put aside all the failings that Cross listed, and there are many.  I will put aside the fact that he grew up in Pine Bush, NY (which is about 30 miles SW of where I sit right now).

 

I will say this.....

Before Nathan even was a Twin he imploded big time for the Giants in the NLDS against the Marlins in 2003.  He'd already had started a track record of failure in big spots.  I was at a game in Yankee Stadium in May of 09 just after the stadium opened.  Mauer and Morneau had both homered (2X for Justin).  We were up 4-2 in the ninth and Nathan spit the bit giving up 3 runs and we lost on a walk off single to Melky Cabrera.  That started a four game sweep in which we lost the first three games in walk off fashion.  Still, I was looking past his propensity to implode in big games.  Then everything changed several months later.

 

Forget everything Aaron Cross said, and anything I just said and think about this:

After the Phil Cuzzi game in the '09 series Nathan spoke up about the call.  That to me was the end of my relationship with Nathan.  No way in the world did he have the right to complain about the umpire's call in that game.  Had he only give up 2 runs in the ninth and pitched to an 18.00 ERA we are walking off the field in Yankee Stadium with a win.  That was the second time he blew a multi-run lead in a playoff game there and he'd done that in May that season at the game I attended.  He would have been much wiser to sit down in a corner and keep his mouth shut.  We aren't scuffling in extra innings if it weren't for his collapse.  As a veteran player he REALLY needed to keep his mouth shut, unless he was willing to tell reporters....

"We can complain about the umpiring, but this game is on me.  We aren't even playing extra innings if I do my job"

It was up to him to take ownership or whine about the umpiring.  That was for the rest of the team to do.  Not for him.  Joe Nathan is sort of a "hometown guy" for me, but I pulled the plug on him after his postgame remarks in that series.  It was a HUGE disappointment for me to hear his complaints (even if they were right).  He was not in a position to say anything, imo

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I'm just stating my opinion. Always love how ripping the wrong player and the claws come out with some people. Sure, statistically he was our best reliever ever. But is he the guy I'd want on the mound closing game 7? Nope.

I made no mention of the 2004 outing that Gardy left him out there for three innings. I don't hold that against him. But he faltered late in 2008. Four blown saves in 30 days. That's forgivable. But to whine about the coin flip after he was a major reason it came down to a coin flip? Unimpressive.

But the defining moment in his career was the A-Rod HR. He was on that mound trembling in fear. Throwing that meatball on a 3-0 count, after the way his team battled that night. In baseball terms, an unforgivable sin. Then the gall to blame the game on Cuzzi. He embarrassed himself even more.

Careers are defined in the pennant race and in the playoffs. And that's where he failed. All the shiny regular season stats can't cover that up.

It's not about claws coming out, it's about why you chose to crap all over one of the best players to ever don a Twins uniform in a thread about his retirement.

 

You've turned the thread negative for absolutely no reason. The dude hasn't taken the mound wearing a Twins uniform in almost a decade. Why focus on the worst parts of his career?

[jimmer]

Love me some Nathan. He was fantastic!  Glad he came back for a day and then retired!

[Craig Arko]

Anybody else craps in my thread and I'll delete it. Make your own.

[Squirrel]

Love me some Nathan. He was fantastic! Glad he came back for a day and then retired!

Yep. And for him to want to do that shows you how much he liked being a Twin. While not everyone is a fan, he was always one of my favorites. While everyone was swooning over Mauer, Nathan was my swoon!

[jimmer]

 

Yep. And for him to want to do that shows you how much he liked being a Twin. While not everyone is a fan, he was always one of my favorites. While everyone was swooning over Mauer, Joe was my swoon!

In the 2000s, Morneau and Span were my favorite players more than Mauer or Nathan, but why pick just two.  All four please :-)

[D. Hocking]

Morneau has not officially retired yet has he?  I suspect that is not too far off in the future - and it would not surprise me if the same was true for Perkins.  It must be a little strange for Mauer to see most of the people he started out with are no longer active players.  He himself having maybe 1 to 3 years left.  Time does fly -- 2006 does not seem like it should be 11 years ago.

 

 

[jimmer]

Mauer has a good 4-5 years left.