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 Major League Baseball 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. 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 2005-2011 he has pitched for Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals and the Houston Astros. With Houston, he remained with them from 2008-2011, 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 KBO. In 2016, he signed with the Seibu Lions of the Pacific League in NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball.)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]