STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Former Stony Brook baseball star and current Texas Rangers closer Joe Nathan '97 has been named to the American League All-Star team, Major League Baseball announced on Sunday. This is the fifth all-star selection for Nathan, who has 279 career saves.

The 2012 MLB All-Star game will be held on Tuesday, July 10 at Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals. The game will be televised nationally on FOX and begins at 8 p.m. EST.

In his first season with the Rangers, Nathan has 18 saves in 19 chances and a 1.87 ERA in 33.2 innings. Nathan has a career ERA of 2.83 and has struck out 803 batters in 763.1 innings.

Nathan made a $500,000 lead gift to the Stony Brook Department of Athletics for the construction of Joe Nathan Field, the home of Seawolves baseball. The field opened in May 2011 and Nathan was honored at a field dedication in November.

He was a two-time Academic All-American in his time with the Seawolves and was also inducted into the Stony Brook Athletics Hall of Fame on Dec. 6, 2006, when he became the first former Stony Brook student-athlete to have his number retired.

Courtesy: Stony Brook Athletic Communications