Nate Robertson

By the time Robertson reached high school, he had the attention of scouts and collegiate coaches throughout the country. As a sophomore, Robertson helped lead the Eagles to a state runner-up finish in 1993. He also set the state career record at Maize with a 0.79 ERA. Robertson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the fifteenth round out of high school but instead chose to play collegiately for his hometown school, and fellow Kansas Sports Hall of Fame coach Gene Stephenson, at Wichita State University.

Robertson was drafted in the fifth round of the 1999 MLB draft by the Florida Marlins following his junior campaign that saw him post an 8-0 record. He made his major league debut three year later in 2002 with the Marlins and one of his fondest memories was celebrating his call up with his fiancée in Pittsburgh. Robertson signed with the Detroit Tigers the following year and spent the next seven seasons with the Tigers before finishing his last major league season split between the Philadelphia Phillies and Marlins.

Robertson, the originator of “Gum Time” in 2006 when he started game three of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Robertson was a key piece of the rotation for the Tigers and finished that season with a 13-13 record with a 3.84 ERA during the regular season with over 200 innings pitched. During the postseason run that year, Robertson made three starts and posted a 5.17 ERA with eight strikeouts over 15.2 innings pitched.

During his nine-year career, Robertson posted a record of 57-77 in 223 career games with a 5.01 career ERA. He averaged 6.1 strike outs per nine innings and finished with 775 career strikeouts.