Loek van Mil

Ludovicus Jacobus Maria "Loek" van Mil (; 15 September 1984 – 28 July 2019) was a Dutch professional baseball pitcher. At the height of , he is one of the tallest people to play professional baseball. He pitched for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He also played in Minor League Baseball for affiliates of the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland Guardians, and Cincinnati Reds. He also pitched in professional leagues in the Netherlands and Australia.

van Mil pitched for the Netherlands national baseball team in international competitions, serving as the team's closer in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and the 2015 Premier 12. He also appeared in the 2007 Baseball World Cup and 2017 World Baseball Classic. He missed the 2008 Summer Olympics due to injury.

van Mil died in 2019, several months after suffering a serious accident while hiking alone in Australia.

Early life van 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 school. He also pitched in the European Champions Cup in Rotterdam. He pitched briefly for HCAW in 2006, as well.

Minnesota Twins van Mil signed as an undrafted free agent on 7 July 2005, with the Minnesota Twins. He first pitched in the United States in 2006 with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Twins. He had a 1–2 record, with a 3.30 ERA in 10 games, eight of them starts. In 2007, he had a 2–2 record, with a 2.63 ERA in 13 relief appearances for the Elizabethton Twins of the Rookie-level Appalachian League He walked 17 batters and struck out 23 batters in 24 innings.

van Mil began the 2010 season with Fort Myers. He was designated for assignment by the Twins to open a roster spot for newly acquired Brian Fuentes on 27 August 2010.

Los Angeles Angels van Mil was announced as the player to be named later going to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the Brian Fuentes trade on 1 September 2010. van Mil was on the Angels' 40-man roster for one day before being optioned down to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He pitched just one inning the remainder of the season. where he had a 1–0 record and 6.30 ERA in 8 games out of the bullpen.

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 Double-A Eastern League. He pitched in 48 games for the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos, posting an 0–9 record, 3.38 ERA, and 8 saves. He finished the season pitching three times for the Triple-A Louisville Bats.

Rakuten Golden Eagles van Mil signed a one-year deal with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball in early 2014. He spent most of the year with Rakuten's farm team. He pitched innings over seven games for the Golden Eagles, with a 4.15 ERA.

Minnesota Twins (second stint) On 29 July 2015, he re-signed with the Minnesota Twins. He had two more scoreless appearances for the Red Wings in 2015.

van Mil started the 2016 season in Rochester, but his performance was notably worse. On 10 April, he gave up four runs in innings with a strikeout against Pawtucket. On 25 April 2016, he was released by the Twins. van Mil had allowed 15 runs (14 earned) in innings over his five appearances, including one start, with Rochester.

After he was released by Minnesota in April 2016, van Mil returned to Neptunus.

van Mil's 2017 Hoofdklasse season started late due to a back injury he suffered during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Serving as the closer for Neptunus, he won the European Champions Cup and Holland Series, being named the MVP of the Holland Series.

van Mil played with the Brisbane Bandits for the 2018–19 Australian season, winning the Claxton Shield but also suffering a head injury while hiking. He earned 1 win and 2 saves with a 0.71 ERA as the Dutch finished fourth in the World Cup.

van Mil was selected for in the 2008 Summer Olympics. However, he partially tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during training in Beijing and did not pitch in the tournament.

van Mil pitched in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and 2017 World Baseball Classic. In 2013, he pitched four scoreless innings over four games, earning one win and one save. In what may be the tallest batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history, the van Mil walked Nate Freiman of Israel in a game on 9 March 2017. van Mil suffered a back injury during the 2017 tournament.

Scouting report van Mil threw a fastball that averaged , which had been recorded as fast as . He also threw a slider and a changeup.

van Mil was and weighed . He was one of the tallest players in the history of professional baseball, along with former Minor League Baseball reliever Ryan Doherty. His height provided an advantage, because his release point when pitching was closer to hitters, giving them less time to react. During his hike, he slipped and hit his head on rocks. He was unconscious for approximately 24 hours before kangaroos woke him up. He attracted the attention of another hiker, who drove him to a hospital. van Mil was diagnosed with 14 fractures, a ruptured eardrum, and bleeding on the brain. He was cleared to return to baseball in January 2019, in time to help Brisbane win the 2019 Claxton Shield.

van Mil died on 28 July 2019, with a statement from the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation attributing his death to a fatal incident.