A move that you don’t see that often. A Dutch guy who joins a professional team to become a coach. In this case, Michiel van Kampen, former relief pitcher of the Dutch national team will join the Boise Hawks.
Michiel van Kampen already served as pitching coach for the Boise State University, so his new job will be “next doors.” The Dutch-born Van Kampen debuted in the Dutch hoofdklasse in 1998 with HCAW. He also played for Corendon Kinheim and Almere ’90.
He was part of the Dutch national team from 1999. He participated in the 2008 Olympics, in six CEB cups, four World Championships, three Intercontinental Cups, five European Championships (four times gold and one time silver) and two World Baseball Classics.
The Boise Hawks were one of the teams that were not offered a spot as an MLB farm team, so eventually it joined the “independent” Pioneer League, the league that is labeled as MLB partner league so the greedy MLB owners can still keep an eye on the talented players without having to pay for them.
He went to the US to become a professional pitcher but injuries got in the way.
Since 2018, Van Kampen is part of the coaching staff of Boise State University baseball. In that year, he was appointed bullpen and catching coach. On July 1st, 2020, Boise State University, named him as their regular pitching coach.
Throug Twitter, the Boise Hawks announced its coaching staff, showing the head coach, hitting coach and pitching coach.
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