(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Marco Stoovelaar)
  Loek van Mil makes comeback in professional baseball
...Loek van Mil...
...Professional comeback...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Nederlands
  ROCHESTER, New York / ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (USA) -
Dutch pitcher Loek van Mil has made his comeback in professionall baseball.
The tall righthander appeared in his first game for the Rochester Red Wings on Wednesday (September 2), then threw in his next ones on Saturday (September 5) and Sunday (September 6).
The Red Wings are playing in the International League and are the Triple-A team of the Minnesota Twins with whom Van Mil agreed on a new contract in July.
In 2006, Van Mil also made his professional debut in the organisation of the Twins, where he pitched for in 2006-2010.
Later, Van Mil also played in the minor league-teams of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2010-2012), Cleveland Indians (2012) and Cincinnati Reds (2013).
This season, Van Mil played for reigning Dutch champion Curaçao Neptunus after coming back from Japan.
There, he pitched in only seven games for Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles last season.
Van Mil, who turns 31 on September 15, was primarily used as closer by the Rotterdam-squad, with whom he finished in second place in the regular season and qualified for the Play-Offs.
In the regular season, Van Mil pitched in 19 games for Neptunus, throwing 24 2/3 inning in which he struckout 31 batters and walked only nine.
The righthander gave up only six basehits and three runs (one earned).
He was 2-1 with six saves.
Early August, he won the European Champions Cup with Neptunus.
On August 13, Van Mil was announced as new pitcher in the first Play-Off game of Neptunus vs. Corendon Kinheim when the game was halted due to heavy rain and lightning.
The remainder was re-scheduled to be played on August 15.
Initially, Van Mil was to leave for the USA on August 14, but as he had to wait longer for his visa, he was able to pitch some more games for Neptunus.
He re-took the mound in the remainder of the game vs. Kinheim, but ended up as losing pitcher.
Van Mil appeared in three Play-Off games, throwing 5 1/3 inning.
He finally left on Thursday, August 27 before the start of the final Play-Offs series against L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
On Wednesday, Van Mil threw the final two innings for the Rochester Red Wings in the home game against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A team of the New York Yankees.
Van Mil entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with the Red Wings leading 8-1.
In his first inning, lead-off hitter Cito Culver lined out to rightfielder Xavier Avery.
Van Mil retired the side in the eighth and also encountered no problems in the ninth.
He the gave up a lead-off single to Rob Segedin, who was forced out moments later.
A walk for Jake Cave then gave the RailRiders another runner, but a double play ended the inning and the game.
The next day, the RailRiders won 12-2 vs. Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays) to capture the crown in the North Division and qualify for the Play-Offs.
...Coca-Cola Park, the home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
On Wednesday, Van Mil made his comeback in professional American baseball exactly two years after he pitched in his last game there.
On September 2, 2013, he threw for the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A team of the Cincinnati Reds, which also plays in the International League.
On Saturday, Van Mil made his second appearance for the Red Wings when the team played in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
There, the team won 13-1 vs. the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A team of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Van Mil threw the eighth inning for the Red Wings and retired the side with a grounder, flyout and strikeout.
The Red Wings collected 17 basehits in the game and had two big rallies, scoring six runs in the fifth and five in the eighth inning.
On Sunday, Van Mil threw again in the next game of the Red Wings against the IronPigs.
This time, he entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with a 5-1 lead and runners on first and third base.
He got a flyout and groundout to end the inning.
Van Mil relieved starting pitcher Michael Bowden and came in the game in a save-situation.
As he was not the last pitcher in the game, but held onto the lead, Van Mil was credited with a Hold.
In the seventh, Van Mil began with a walk for Cord Phelps, who was then forced out.
When the next batter flied out, Van Mil was relieved by Aaron Thompson.
Rochester closes its season on Monday (September 7), but was eliminated for the Play-Offs, despite the wins in the past days.
The three Division-champions then will be joined by the second team with the best record.
Rochester is in second place in the North Division, but won't qualify for the Play-Offs.
And with that, Loek van Mil might return again on the roster of Neptunus for the upcoming Holland Series, which opens on September 12.
(September 6)
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