Dutch international baseball pitcher Loek Van Mil dies at 34

Loek Van Mil, a pitcher who represented the Netherlands in the WBSC Premier12, the World Baseball Classic and the IBAF World Cup, died unexpectedly on Friday, 25 July.

Van Mil’s family, through the Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB), announced the death of Loek on Monday, 29 July, as a “fatal accident”. KNBSB Technical Director Tjerk Smeets told the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf that he can’t provide a further explanation “at the request of the family”.

Ludovicus Jacobus Maria Van Mil was born in 1984 in Oss, The Netherlands. He stood at 2.15 meters (7 ft. 1 in.) as one of the tallest pitchers in the game.

WBSC is sad to learn of the passing of Loek van Mil (34), pitcher for the Dutch National Baseball Team and European champion. pic.twitter.com/oOleZJMwrc

— WBSC (@WBSC) July 29, 2019

He signed as an amateur free agent for the MLB Minnesota Twins in 2005. At the time he was on the roster of the HCAW Mr Cocker, a team of the Dutch Hoofdsklasse (the domestic top league).

Van Mil played affiliated baseball in the USA until 2016. He appeared in 241 Minor League games, 24 at the AAA level and mostly as a relief pitcher, for the Minnesota Twins, the Los Angeles Angels, the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds.

Loek Van Mil played also in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league for the Rakuten Golden Eagles and for the Adelaide Bite and the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League.

He had lately returned to the Dutch Hoofdsklasse and represented Neptunus Rotterdam. In 2016 he was on the Dutch National Team that won the European Championship on home turf.

In December 2018, while under contract with Brisbane, Van Mil suffered a severe head injury during a hiking trip in the Australian Outback.

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