Oakland Athletics Sign Fan Who Threw 96 MPH During Stadium’s Pitch-Speed Challenge

A viral social media video where a man threw a baseball 96 mph at an in-stadium pitching challenge, ended in glory when Nathan Patterson signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics following his amazing performance.

In street clothes and without warming up, Patterson threw several pitches at a Coors Field speed challenge booth at a Colorado Rockies game. A couple weeks later, Patterson signed with the American League team. The Athletics, who were obviously impressed with the film, decided 17 days after the video was posted to give the guy a shot.

Here’s the video:

Guys, we were just chillin at a @rockies baseball game, and my brother decided to step into a speed pitch challenge…he hit 96 mph ???? @MLB Let’s get him signed! pic.twitter.com/g0fKrvUxzt

— Christian Patterson (@cpatterson_7) July 15, 2019

You have to hand it to Patterson for deciding to enter the challenge and getting some great video to share on Twitter. I would’ve rather seen the pitcher throw while standing still and without doing shuffle steps before release, but to throw that hard without any type of warm up is insane. (RELATED: Justin Verlander Believes The MLB Is Juicing Baseballs)

Patterson’s Instagram includes several videos of him either working on his pitches, or of past performances in which he made it up to 95+ mph during a game. He definitely has the fastball velocity that teams in today’s MLB are looking for.

 

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“How can you not be romantic about baseball” -Billy Beane Words cannot describe this feeling and I cannot thank everyone enough who has been part of this journey so far! 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. I’m grateful for all the trainers, coaches, friends, @rsrbaseball and everyone else who has supported me thus far! And 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. I’m grateful for the @athletics organization for giving me this opportunity! This story is not over. It is not the beginning. I am writing the next chapters and excited for this journey! Time to focus even more, work even harder, and it all starts with your mindset. Go after your dreams and make them a reality!

A post shared by Nathan Patterson (@njpatterson12) on Aug 1, 2019 at 2:10pm PDT

 

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Happy to be back playing the game I love. Been a wild ride so far but this is just the beginning!

A post shared by Nathan Patterson (@njpatterson12) on Feb 12, 2019 at 5:26am PST

This is a definite “Moneyball” type moment from the Athletics. A team with a limited payroll is going out and signing types of players that other teams stick their noses up at. I hope this guy turns into an absolute stud on the mound for Billy Beane and the rest of the Athletics front office.

I hope this guy runs through the ranks and eventually has his dream come true by making it to the major leagues. Let’s hope his control is similar to his velocity, which would make him nearly unstoppable.