In the midst of pouring rain on Saturday morning, several hardy souls made the trek to Joe Nathan Field at Stony Brook University, one of them being Joe Nathan ’97 himself.

Nathan, 36, had the honor of having his number retired for all of future Stony Brook baseball. He is currently a relief pitcher for Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball team. He has recorded 261 saves with the Twins and struck out 761.

Stony Brook’s new baseball field owes its existance in part to Nathan, who made a $500,000 contribution to its construction, which took place between the spring season of 2010 and well into last school year. Nathan was not alone, however. Also joining him at the ceremony was Athletic Director Jim Fiore, Stony Brook President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., Stony Brook baseball coach Matt Senk, baseball alumni and the 2012 baseball team. Representatives of Bethpage Federal Credit Union, which made a $100,000 contribution to the construction of the scoreboard, also came.

Nathan, Senk, Stanley and Bethpage Federal Credit Union CEO Rob Kelly each threw out a traditional first pitch for seniors on the 2012 squad: Tyler Johnson, Pat Cantwell, Evan Stecko-Haley and Sal Intagliata.