Nate Robertson

Nathan Daniel "Nate" Robertson, (born September 3, 1977, in Wichita, Kansas) is a left-handed pitcher who currently plays with the Detroit Tigers. He attended Wichita State University and was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the fifth round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft.

He made his Major League debut on September 7, 2002 for the Marlins, pitching 4 2/3 innings and allowing four earned runs in a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. He was acquired by the Tigers in a trade that sent left-handed pitcher Mark Redman and minor league pitcher Jerrod Fuell to Florida for Robertson, right-handed pitcher Gary Knotts, and minor league pitcher Rob Henkel.

Robertson's best pitch is his 4-seam fastball, followed by a "plus" slider and major-league quality change-up. In 2005, he began wearing clear corrective lenses to correct his lazy eye. Robertson invented a new means of rallying the Tigers during a June 2006 game with the New York Yankees. While wearing a microphone for television, Robertson began stuffing his mouth with Big League Chew to encourage the Tigers to score, down 5-0. Iván Rodríguez hit a home run on the subsequent at-bat. Even though the Tigers actually lost the game, the "Gum Time!" tradition has caught on among Detroit players and fans.

In a rare coincidence, Robertson logged the exact same number of innings pitched in back-to-back seasons, with 196 2/3 in both 2004 and 2005. Nate earned his first career postseason victory on October 10, 2006 by pitching five hectic shutout innings against the Oakland Athletics in game 1 which helped launch the Detroit Tigers into their ALCS sweep of the A's and their first pennant since 1984.

Nate is also a part owner of the Wichita Wingnuts independent baseball organization. On August 22, 2008 Tigers manager Jim Leyland announced that Nate was being demoted to the bullpen due to ongoing trouble with his slider. Nate was quoted by the Detroit Free Press as saying that it was the "lowest point" of his career.