Ludovicus Jacobus Maria "Loek" van Mil (; 15 September 1984 – 28 July 2019) was a Dutch professional baseball pitcher. At the height of , he was and still is the tallest player in the history of professional baseball. He played for

Curaçao Neptunus Neptunus is a baseball and softball club in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Following its 2014 championship season, the club signed a sponsorship contract for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons with Curaçao and competes under the name Curaçao Neptun ...

of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse and for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). On the Netherlands national baseball team he served as the team's closer in the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

and the

2015 Premier 12 The 2015 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship sponsored by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the inaugural event of the WBSC Premier12. It was held from November 8 to 21 in Taiwan and Japan. The South Korean ...

and appeared in the

2007 Baseball World Cup The 2007 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 37th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

. He missed the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

due to injury.

Early life

Mil competed in judo from ages 4 through 7. When his mother encouraged him to join a team sport, he chose to play baseball, as he had played a similar game in his

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. Mil reached the height of at age 12, and grew to by 14 and at the age of 15. He played as a catcher, until he became too tall to play the position and shifted to

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. At the age of 17, a coach decided to try Van Mil as a pitcher due to his strong throwing arm.

Career

Minnesota Twins

Van Mil signed a seven-year deal as a non-drafted free agent on 7 July 2005, with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. Van Mil threw scoreless innings for HCAW in 2006, spending most of the year with the Gulf Coast League Twins of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. Van Mil pitched for the

Beloit Snappers The Beloit Sky Carp are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Beloit, Wisconsin, and play their home games at ABC Supply Stadium. They previously played at Harry C ...

of the Class A Midwest League during the 2008 season. He had a 2–2 record with 3 saves and a 3.22 ERA and 42 strikeouts in his first innings, making the Midwest League All-Star game. Van Mil suffered a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm while preparing for participation in the

, and missed the first seven weeks of the 2009 season while rehabilitating. Van Mil began his 2009 season in late May with the Fort Myers Miracle, playing in the Class A-Advanced

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. Later that year, he was promoted to the New Britain Rock Cats in the Class AA Eastern League. He finished the season with a 1–1 record and a 2.79 ERA in 42 games between the two clubs, 25 games out of the bullpen with Fort Myers with a 2.86 ERA and another 8 games with New Britain for a 2.45 ERA. On 20 November 2009, he was added to the Twins' 40 man roster. Van Mil began the 2010 season with Fort Myers. He was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Brian Fuentes on 27 August 2010.

Los Angeles Angels

Mil was announced as the player to be named later going to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the trade for Brian Fuentes on 1 September 2010. With the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League in 2011, Van Mil had a 3–5 record and 2.04 ERA in innings across 30 games. He began the 2012 season with the Class AAA Salt Lake Bees, where he had a 1–0 record and 6.30 ERA.

Cleveland Indians

On 5 May 2012, the Angels traded Van Mil to the Cleveland Indians for future considerations. The Indians assigned him to the Akron Aeros of the Class AA Eastern League.

Rakuten Golden Eagles

Van Mil signed a one-year deal with the

Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

of Nippon Professional Baseball in early 2014. He spent most of the year with Rakuten's farm team.

Curaçao Neptunus

In March 2015 it was announced that van Mil would spend the year with Curaçao Neptunus Rotterdam of Honkbal Hoofdklasse. Van Mil was also named to Team Europe's roster for the 2015 Global Baseball Matchup against

Samurai Japan were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the ''daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They had ...

Return to the Minnesota Twins

Van Mil pitched for the Minnesota Twins AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings, on 2 September 2015, pitching 2 scoreless innings in relief in his first action stateside since 2013. On 10 April 2016, Van Mil in relief gave up four runs in 1.2 innings with a strikeout against Pawtucket, 4–9. With the loss, the Red Wings went to 4–8 on the season, the team losing six of their last eight games. They dropped to last place in the International League's Northern Division. The 7-foot-1 Dutch native had allowed 15 runs (14 earned) in 5 1/3 innings over his first five appearances (including one start) with Triple-A Rochester. On 25 April 2016, he was released by the Minnesota Twins.

Australia

Van Mil played in the Australian Baseball League with the Adelaide Bite for the 2015–16 and 2017–18 seasons before signing with the Brisbane Bandits for the 2018-19 ABL season.

Dutch national team

Van Mil joined the Netherlands national baseball team for the first time for the

. He competed as part of the KNB team in the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

in March 2017. In what NBC reported was thought to be the tallest batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history, the van Mil walked Nate Freiman of Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in a round one game.

Scouting report

Van Mil threw a fastball that averaged , which had been recorded as fast as . Van Mil also threw a slider and a change-up. Van Mil was and weighed . He was one of the tallest players in the history of professional baseball, tied with former Minor League Baseball prospect

Ryan Doherty Ryan Daniel Doherty (born February 2, 1984) is an American professional beach volleyball player. Career Start in baseball Doherty, who was born and raised in Toms River, New Jersey, grew up playing baseball, including at Toms River High Schoo ...

Death

During a December 2018 series against the Canberra Cavalry, van Mil went bushwalking without his teammates near Canberra. During his hike, he slipped and hit his head on rocks. He was unconscious for about 24 hours before being woken up by kangaroos and attracted the attention of another hiker who drove him to a hospital. He was diagnosed with fourteen fractures, a

ruptured eardrum A perforated eardrum (tympanic membrane perforation) is a hole in the eardrum. It can be caused by infection (otitis media), trauma, overpressure (loud noise), inappropriate ear clearing, and changes in middle ear pressure. An otoscope can be us ...

and bleeding on the brain. He was cleared to return to baseball in January 2019 in time to help the Adelaide Bite win the 2019 Claxton Shield. On 29 July 2019, the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation announced van Mil had died. He had announced his retirement from baseball to focus on his recovery only a week earlier.

References

External links

Van Mil's profile at honkbalsite.com

Loek van Mil, one of tallest baseball players ever at 7-foot-1, dies from 'fatal accident'
(Loek van Mil Obituary at USA Today) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mil, Loek van 1984 births 2019 deaths 2013 World Baseball Classic players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players 2016 European Baseball Championship players 2017 World Baseball Classic players Adelaide Bite players Akron Aeros players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Beloit Snappers players Brisbane Bandits players Columbus Clippers players Curacao Neptunus players Deaths from head injury Dutch expatriate baseball players in Japan Dutch expatriate baseball players in the United States Elizabethton Twins players Fort Myers Miracle players Gulf Coast Twins players Louisville Bats players Mr. Cocker HCAW players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers New Britain Rock Cats players Olympic baseball players for the Netherlands Pensacola Blue Wahoos players Sportspeople from Oss Rochester Red Wings players Salt Lake Bees players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Dutch expatriate baseball players in Australia Neurological disease deaths in the Australian Capital Territory Accidental deaths from falls