at Stony Brook University largely because his high school assistant coach Jeff Masionet and Stony Brook baseball coach Matt Senk knew each other as former teammates in the State University of New York at Cortland baseball program. College career Nathan first played shortstop for the then Division III Stony Brook Patriots (now Division I and called the Seawolves) at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York. He also played for the Fairfield Stallions in the New England Collegiate Baseball League in 1994. Nathan became a two-time Academic All-American and graduated as a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. During his tenure at Stony Brook, professional baseball scouts began to notice his good arm and pitcher's body. Senk arranged for a game in front of scouts, but on a day that "literally someone from every organization" came to watch him pitch, the game was rained out. The scouts had to settle for watching Nathan in a throwing session. Nathan was drafted in the sixth round (159th overall) of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants and signed the next day, June 2. In 2006, Nathan's number 22 was retired by Stony Brook, the first athlete to receive that honor from the school, and he was awarded the University Medal, the highest recognition given by Stony Brook. He was also inducted into the Stony Brook Hall of Fame in the class of 2006. In August 2008, he gave the Stony Brook athletics department $500,000 for a new baseball facility. In recognition of this "lead gift" from the Joe Nathan Charitable Foundation, the college named their new baseball stadium Joe Nathan Field. Professional career Minor Leagues Nathan began his minor league career for the Single-A Bellingham Giants. After an unsuccessful year at the plate, the Giants tried to convert Nathan into a pitcher, but he refused and left to return to Stony Brook for a year, graduating with a degree in business management. He gave more thought to his future in baseball, however, and after graduation decided to return to the Giants organization and developed into a standout pitching prospect. After a season with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, he pitched for both the A and AA levels for (the San Jose Giants and Shreveport Captains) in 1998 as a starter. During his tenure with San Jose he started 22 games with an ERA of 3.32 and 118