Nathan Patterson

Nathan Patterson (born February 5, 1996) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. 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. He later played in the Milwaukee Brewers organization before retiring.

Early life

Patterson was born in 1996 in Kansas City, Missouri. His mother is a long-time nurse and real estate agent and his father a former high school baseball coach in Overland Park, Kansas. He played baseball as a middle infielder on the junior varsity 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.

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." Video of Patterson had previously been featured on Friedman's FlatGroundApp in January 2019.

Oakland Athletics Patterson signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics on July 31, 2019. He was assigned to the rookie-level Athletics Green of the Arizona League on August 5. On November 18, 2020, Patterson was released by the Athletics organization.

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