The twins know how to find relief

Sporting News, The, Sept 13, 2004 by Josh Lewin

"Why, it's good old reliable Nathan, Nathan, Nathan ..."--Lyrics from (Oldest Established) Permanent Floating Crap Game In New York, from the musical Guys and Dolls

Sure, the crapshooters were singing about the gangster Nathan Detroit, but for our purposes, let's just pretend a) they were referencing the Twins' closer, and b) there's nothing at all odd about bookies belting out show tunes.

Joseph Michael Nathan, at this writing, has as many blown saves this season as he does possible first names. The spring training caterwauling about Minnesota having imploded its bullpen has become the most ludicrous song since "In the Year 2525," by Zager and Evans. Forget 2525; by the year 2001, the Twins were supposed to have been contracted, remember? Instead, they made the playoffs in 2002 and 2003 and, coming soon, 2004. Once again, the bullpen has saved the day.

There are other airtight American League bullpens headed to the playoffs: the Yankees with the Quantrill-Gordon-Rivera trio, the Angels with K-Rod and Troy Percival. Lurking in the shadows are the Rangers, featuring the Dominican connection of Francisco Cordero, Carlos Almanzar and Frank Francisco, who sounds like he should have a part in Guys and Dolls. But the Twins are anchored by Venezuelan fireballer Juan Rincon, who sets up the man with the Guys and Dolls accent, Mr. Nathan himself.

But though "Joey Nathan" has a nice Coney Island ring to it (and though Nathan's Coney Island has made some great hot dogs in its day), this is a guy who actually was close to becoming a stockbroker instead of a ballplayer. He was recruited by not a single Division I college and ended up as an undersized shortstop playing for Division III SUNY-Stony Brook. The only reason he even was able to do that was that the Stony Brook coach was a onetime college roommate of Nathan's high school coach and was asked to take a look at the kid as a favor.

Eventually, Nathan became a sixth-round pick of the Giants, still harboring thoughts of being a big-league infielder. But the Giants wanted him to pitch, even after the time he allowed home runs to four consecutive batters at Class AAA. He emerged in fits and starts once he made it to San Francisco and never dreamed he would be dealt for All-Star catcher A.J. Pierzynski last offseason. Maybe the Twins had scouted not just his stuff but the song to which he entered action. Nathan's jog onto the field wasn't accompanied by throbbing Guns N' Roses riffs or screeching Metallica metal; rather, he entered to the soundtrack from a little-known movie called Rock Star. The title track is about a talented unknown who, when given a chance, becomes a breakout performer. Hmmm ...

Last year, the combo of LaTroy Hawkins and Eddie Guardado was all the rage in the A.L. Central. Hawkins was 9-3, and Everyday Eddie had 41 saves. This year, Rincon is 11-6, and Nathan is on pace for 45 saves. Sweet music for Twins fans again.

Josh Lewin is the television voice of the Texas Rangers and a play-by-play announcer for FOX's Saturday Game of the Week.