Nathan Patterson, 23, played high school baseball, sure, but he never pursued the sport in college or professionally beyond that. Now, he’s a member of the Oakland Athletics and the journey there is something straight out of Hollywood.
A couple weeks ago, Nathan and his brother Christian were taking in a Rockies game at Coors Field, when they decided to take a little detour to the speed-pitch challenge radar booth thing. You know the type.
Well, Patterson managed to crank it all the way up to 96 MPH (with just a subtle crow hop, to be fair), which was apparently enough to catch the attention of the A’s.
Take a look:
https://twitter.com/cpatterson_7/status/1150829879476260864?s=20
A few days after this performance caught fire on the internet, the “A’s gave [him] a call,” Patterson told MLB.com.
“Words cannot describe this feeling and I cannot thank everyone enough who has been part of this journey so far,” Patterson wrote on Instagram. “My family has given me nothing but constant love and support throughout the last 9 months as I pursue a dream of mine that I’ve had since I was a little kid. It’s been a roller coaster to get here with many challenges and overcoming adversity. For those who tell you that you can’t achieve your dreams, use that as fuel to work even harder. Because those people are the ones that settle.”
What an unbelievable story. Patterson still has a LONG way to go before he’s ever throwing pitches in the big leagues, but can you imagine how great of a story it’ll be then?