Andy Van Hekken

{{Infobox baseball biography

| image =

| name = Andy Van Hekken

| team =

| position = Starting pitcher

| number =

| bats = Right

| throws = Left

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|7|31}}

| birth_place = Holland, Michigan, U.S.

| debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = September 3

| debutyear = 2002

| debutteam = Detroit Tigers

| finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = September 27

| finalyear = 2002

| finalteam = Detroit Tigers

| debut2league = CPBL

| debut2date = August 21

| debut2year = 2007

| debut2team = Macoto Cobras

| final4league = CPBL

| final4date = October 14

| final4year = 2018

| final4team = Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions

| debut3league = KBO

| debut3date = April 13

| debut3year = 2012

| debut3team = Nexen Heroes

| final3league = KBO

| final3date = September 29

| final3year = 2017

| final3team = Nexen Heroes

| debut4league = NPB

| debut4date = March 27

| debut4year = 2016

| debut4team = Saitama Seibu Lions

| final2league = NPB

| final2date = July 8

| final2year = 2016

| final2team = Saitama Seibu Lions

| statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Win–loss record

| stat1value = 1–3

| stat2label = Earned run average

| stat2value = 3.00

| stat3label = Strikeouts

| stat3value = 5

| stat2league = KBO

| stat21label = Win–loss record

| stat21value = 73–42

| stat22label = Earned run average

| stat22value = 3.56

| stat23label = Strikeouts

| stat23value = 860

| stat3league = NPB

| stat31label = Win–loss record

| stat31value = 0–4

| stat32label = Earned run average

| stat32value = 6.31

| stat33label = Strikeouts

| stat33value = 35

| stat4league = CPBL

| stat41label = Win–loss record

| stat41value = 4–6

| stat42label = Earned run average

| stat42value = 4.24

| stat43label = Strikeouts

| stat43value = 46

| teams =

Detroit Tigers ({{mlby|2002}})
Macoto Cobras ({{baseball year|2007}})
Nexen Heroes ({{baseball year|2012}}–{{baseball year|2015}})
Saitama Seibu Lions ({{npby|2016}})
Nexen Heroes ({{baseball year|2016}}–{{baseball year|2017}})
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions ({{baseball year|2018}})

| highlights =

;KBO

KBO League Golden Glove Award (2014)
KBO wins leader (2014)

|medaltemplates=

{{Medal|Country|{{bb|USA}}}}

}}

Andrew William Van Hekken (born July 31, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Macoto Cobras and Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, the KBO League for the Nexen Heroes, and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Saitama Seibu Lions.

Early years

He attended Lakeview Elementary School and later Holland High School in Michigan.

Professional career

Van Hekken was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round of the 1998 MLB draft.

In 1999, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers along with Jerry Amador for Brian Hunter. He made his Major League debut in September 2002. In his first Major League appearance, he threw a complete game shutout for a victory against the Cleveland Indians. As of March 2017, he was the last Major League pitcher to pitch a complete-game shutout in his debut.{{cite news|last1=Morosi|first1=Jon Paul|title=Andy Van Hekken still pitching at age 37|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/andy-van-hekken-still-pitching-at-age-37/c-221638760|accessdate=29 December 2017|work=MLB.com|publisher=Major League Baseball|date=March 30, 2017}} In 5 starts for the Tigers, he sported an ERA of 3.00 in 30 innings pitched, he had the same amount of strikeouts (5) as starts (5). He finished with a 1.5 K/9. He would never be called up to the Majors again in his career.

After becoming a free agent in 2004, Van Hekken has bounced around multiple organizations. From 2005 to 2011 he has pitched for Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals and the Houston Astros. With Houston, he remained with them from 2008 to 2011, pitching no higher than Triple-A.

Van Hekken signed a one-year contract for the 2014 season with the Nexen Heroes for his second season with the team in the Korea Baseball Organization.[https://archive.today/20130216052428/http://www.hollandsentinel.com/feature/x1578913123/Andy-Van-Hekken-relishes-summer-of-2000-with-West-Michigan-Whitecaps-joining-teams-Hall-of-Fame Andy Van Hekken relishes summer of 2000 with West Michigan Whitecaps, joining team's Hall of Fame – News] Holland Sentinel Holland, Michigan In 2016, he signed with the Seibu Lions of the Pacific League in Nippon Professional Baseball. He was released on July 15. Van Hekken returned to the Nexen Heroes for the remainder of the 2016 season and the 2017 season. He became a free agent following the 2017 season.

On April 17, 2018, Van Hekken signed with the New Britain Bees of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He left the team on August 14, 2018, to sign with the Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Van Hekken retired following the 2018 season.{{cite news |last1=Kaminski |first1=Steve |title=Baseball's return to South Korea brings back great memories for Andy Van Hekken |url=https://www.mlive.com/sports/2020/05/baseballs-return-to-south-korea-brings-back-great-memories-for-andy-vanhekken.html |access-date=18 July 2021 |work=MLive.com |publisher=Booth Newspapers |date=6 May 2020 |language=en}}

Post playing career

In 2023, Van Hekken was hired as a pitching coach at Calvin University.{{cite news | title=Calvin Baseball Hires Andy Van Hekken as Pitching Coach |url=https://calvinknights.com/news/2023/7/21/calvin-baseball-hires-andy-van-hekken-as-pitching-coach.aspx|access-date=11 November 2024 |publisher=Calvin University |date=21 July 2023 |language=en}}

References

[http://www.mlive.com/whitecaps/index.ssf/2013/01/holland_native_andy_van_hekken.html Holland native Andy Van Hekken honored to join Whitecaps Hall of Fame | MLive.com]
[http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/05/11/andy-van-hekken-3148-days-and-counting/ Andy Van Hekken…3148 Days and Counting – Ultimate Astros]

External links

{{baseballstats|mlb= |espn=5319|br=v/vanhean01|fangraphs=1630|brm=vanhek001and}}

[http://eng.koreabaseball.com/teams/playerinfopitcher/summary.aspx?pcode=62322 Career statistics and player information] from Korea Baseball Organization

Category:1979 births

Category:Living people

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Mexico

Category:American expatriate baseball players in South Korea

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan

Category:American people of Dutch descent

Category:Arizona League Mariners players

Category:Baseball players from Ottawa County, Michigan

Category:Chattanooga Lookouts players

Category:Corpus Christi Hooks players

Category:Detroit Tigers players