By Jim Baumbach, Newsday

It's easy to make the argument that Joe Nathan played a very significant role raising the profile of Stony Brook University's baseball team. Only four years after the Giants drafted him in the sixth round, Stony Brook made the leap from D-III to D-I.

But what's funny about Nathan's story is he didn't choose Stony Brook solely for baseball. Sure he wanted to continue playing baseball in college, but Nathan was realistic enough to accept that his dream of reaching the majors was nothing more than that, a far-fetched dream. He was a 6-1 scrawny kid with some talent, but not enough to warrant too many looks in high school.

So he picked Stony Brook because the school offered the best-case scenario for him, and his future. "I was really going to the school for the academics, and I wanted to play," Nathan said yesterday afternoon before the Twins played the Mets. "It was a good fit for me."

Now one of the best closers in all of baseball, Nathan returned to Stony Brook this past winter to get his college jersey number retired, nearly 10 years after he graduated with a degree in business management. And as he drove around the campus, it quickly dawned on him that the school he attended no longer is there anymore. So much has changed with the jump to D-I, all obviously for the better.

Nathan knows if he were graduating high school this year, Stony Brook probably would not be an option for that scrawny kid who was thinking as much about becoming a stockbroker as he was dreaming about being a major-leaguer. Stony Brook is still known for its academics, but now the school is in a position to seek out the best baseball talent from all over.

"You never know if I would have even had the chance to play there," he said. "I'd like to think I'd still be able to go there and play."

But he knows it's a different place, in a different time. And surely Nathan also realizes his impressive career has played such a big role in helping to raise the identity of the school's athletics, even if he wishes to share the credit with his college teammates.

"Our whole class, that whole era I was there, I think we all took some pride knowing we had something to do with them going D-I," he said. "A lot of us didn't want us to be D-3 anymore because we dominated the D-3 level with the team we had. We had to play a very Division-2-heavy schedule."

Nathan was the star shortstop with a canon for an arm at Stony Brook, and he caught the attention of pro scouts after he added two inches and some muscle to his once-scrawny frame. But even with all the attention, he never lost sight of his real-life goals. That's why when the Giants pressured him to become a pitcher in his first year in the organization, he quit baseball and returned to Stony Brook to finish his degree.

And while he was back on Long Island, he made a point of checking out the real world -- a world that didn't include baseball.

"I had some friends who were stockbrokers and I looked into that, but I didn't really like it," Nathan said. "I actually went into the city with some friends to see what their lives were like. I'd wake up at 5, go in and do the deal, cold calling and all that stuff. It's something I'm glad I did, because I learned I didn't want to do it. It's for some people and not for others."

That was enough motivation to return to the baseball field, this time as a pitcher. And his career has obviously taken off from there. He's currently in the final year of a $10-million, two-year contract, but the Twins hold a $6 million club option for next season and it seems likely they'll pick it up. With 137 saves since 2004, Nathan has become one of baseball's top closers.

Even though he said Stony Brook "is a different world" now from how he remembers it, Nathan obviously has no regrets. He's proud of where he's from, and what has become of it.

"I hear it a lot here from fans, 'Stony Brook! Stony Brook!'" he said. "I don't know if people went there, or they're just shouting it out because they know I'm from the area.

"In New York, it seems like it doesn't matter what team you play for, I think the fans show you a sense of respect knowing this is where you played your high school ball, little league ball, college ball and now having made it to the majors."