Former Twins Pitcher Loek Van Mil Passes Away in Accident After Surviving Recent Hiking Disaster

Sad news surfaced today out of the Australian Baseball League. It's been confirmed that former minor league pitcher Loek Van Mil has passed away at the age of 34.

Late last year, Van Mil was involved in a hiking accident that left him in "critical, but stable, condition".

The Dutch pitcher spent time in the Twins, Angels, Indians and Reds organizations, as well as the Japanese NPB, before eventually moving to the Austrialian league. Due to the injuries he sustained in the hiking accident, Van Mil recently stepped away from baseball as a member of the Brisbane Bandits.

At 7-foot-1, Van Mil goes down in history as quite possibly the tallest professional baseball player of all time. Between 2005 and 2015, Van Mil pitched for the Double- and Triple-A affiliates of four MLB clubs, and was also a regular face of the Dutch National Team, competing in tournaments all over Europe, ultimately winning gold in the 2016 European Baseball Championship.

Although he never got his shot in the MLB, Van Mil was a treasured personality of any and every team he was a part of.

Van Mil's untimely passing comes from a more recent and separate accident. The incident in December left him unconscious for 24 hours after hitting his head on rocks during a hike in Canberra, Australia. He sustained multiple fractures, as well as bleeding of the brain. At the time of his passing, he was still recovering from those injuries.

The baseball community mourns the passing of Loek Van Mil today, sending prayers and condolences to his family and friends at this most difficult of times.