After Patrick pitched at D. H. Conley High School in Winterville, North Carolina, the Oakland Athletics selected him with the 593rd overall pick of the 1988 June draft, as part of the 23rd round. Patrick started out with the Phoenix Athletics in the Arizona League and pitched in Oakland\'s system until 1995, when he left as a minor league free agent.\n', '

Patrick had agreed to play as a "replacement player" in the wake of the 1994 baseball strike, but his Major League debut was postponed when the two sides struck a deal. He continued to pitch in the minor leagues for affiliates of the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers, and on May 18, 1998 he finally broke in as a reliever for the Brewers. He spent the majority of that season with the Brewers, pitching 78​1⁄3 innings while appearing mostly in relief. He collected four wins and one loss, struck out 49 batters, and posted a 4.69 earned run average. In a game on August 1, he hit a home run against Félix Rodríguez, becoming the first Brewers pitcher to hit a home run since Skip Lockwood in 1971. In a September 13 game against the Chicago Cubs, Patrick surrendered a home run to Sammy Sosa, during Sosa\'s chase of the record for single-season home runs. The home run in question was Sosa\'s 61st of the season, tying the previous mark set by Yankees outfielder Roger Maris, and placing him one behind McGwire, who had hit his 62nd on September 8. Later in the same game, Sosa would hit his 62nd against Eric Plunk to pull into a tie with McGwire.\n', '

After the season, the Brewers removed Patrick from their roster, and he joined the San Francisco Giants organization. Working as a starter for their AAA affiliate, the Fresno Grizzlies, Patrick set a Fresno record with 14 wins. The Giants rewarded him for his good work with a September callup, and he appeared in six games for them, picking up a win and a save despite a 10.12 ERA.\n', '

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