Linc Mikkelsen

Lincoln Matthew Mikkelsen

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 176 lb.

• School Lamar University
• High School Lloyd V. Berkner High School
• Born July 27, 1967 in Montague, MI USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Linc Mikkelsen had a long career in professional baseball, debuting in 1990 and playing until 2008. He was 13-17 in Organized Baseball, 81-48 in the independent leagues, 33-37 in Taiwan and 13-6 in Italy.

Mikkelsen was the best pitcher in 1988 Haarlem Baseball Week while working for Canada. Undrafted out of college, he signed with the independent Erie Sailors. In 1990, he 7-5 with a 2.34 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 88 1/3 IP for Erie. He was 9th in the New York-Penn League in ERA. That drew the interest of the Milwaukee Brewers, who purchased his contract.

Mikkelsen made his Brewers system debut with the Stockton Ports, going 5-5 with a 3.42 ERA in 1991. In 1992, he fell to 0-4, 5.51 with Stockton.

Mikkelsen then joined the new independent leagues, where he would be a mainstay. In 1993, he pitched for the Duluth-Superior Dukes and was 206 with a 4.19 ERA.

Linc split 1994 between the Brainerd Bears (5-2, 1.22, the lowest ERA in the league, though he did not qualify for the ERA title) and the President Lions of Taiwan (0-5, 6.30).

In 1995, Linc was a replacement player with the Montréal Expos. After the 1994 strike ended, he remained with the organization for his last stop in the affiliated minors. He was 1-2 with a 5.37 ERA for the Harrisburg Senators and 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 5 saves in 12 games for the Albany Polecats.

Back in the indies in 1996, Mikkelsen starred for the Minot Mallards, posting a 12-3, 1.26 record. He led the league in strikeouts (118 in 122 IP) and ERA, 0.96 ahead of the runner-up. He was third in victories. Mikkelsen was selected as the league's All-Star right-handed pitcher.

Mikkelsen then returned to Taiwan with the Taipei Gida, going 17-12 with a 2.70 ERA. He was second in the Taiwan Major League in ERA, behind Al Osuna and tied Len Picota for the lead in strikeouts (187). He was also second in wins, behind Yi-hsin Chen. In his second year with Taipei, Linc was less successful, going 15-16 with a 3.39 ERA. He still was 7th in the TML in ERA, led in strikeouts and was third in wins - but led in losses as well.

Mikkelsen then went to another country, Mexico, where he was 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in three games for the Saltillo Saraperos of 1999. In the 1999 World Port Tournament, Linc was 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA for the Grand Rapids Sullivans, allowing 26 hits in 19 1/3 IP.

In 2001, he resurfaced with the Camden Riversharks, going 4-5 with a 3.75 ERA. In 2002, he improved to 16-6, 3.32. He was 5th in the Atlantic League in ERA, made the All-Star team as a right-handed pitcher and also won Most Valuable Pitcher honors. He had led league with 16 victories.

Mikkelsen had a 7-3, 3.35 record in his third year in Camden and also returned once more to Taiwan, where he was 1-4 with a 3.15 ERA in 9 games for First Financial Agan (19-67 when other pitchers got the decision for the last-place club). Additionally, he pitched for a third team in 2003, joining the new China Baseball League and going 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 3 games for the Tianjin Lions. He had a 2-0 lead going into the 8th inning of the final playoff game but the Beijing Tigers rallied for the win.

In 2004, the veteran right-hander had another fine year in the independent leagues. He was 12-4 with a 3.01 ERA, second-best in the Atlantic League after Kevin Henthorne. The Camden hurler tied for the league lead with 12 wins as well.

Mikkelsen moved on to the Atlantic City Surf in 2005 and struggled with a 6-12, 5.60 record for a 80-60 team. He did lead the club with 120 strikeouts but allowed 191 hits in 169 IP.

The Surf hurler bounced back in 2006, a year in which he was one of two players remaining from the 1993 Northern League season that revived the independent leagues. He went 15-5 with a 1.85 ERA and only 127 hits allowed in 175 IP. He led the Atlantic League in ERA and was second in victories, two behind Denny Harriger. Harriger was second in ERA, .78 back. He was named to the All-Star team and won both Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors.

He then signed with Bbc Grosseto as a player and pitching coach for his last year on the mound, 2007, when no Atlantic League team offered him that role (though he did pitch briefly for the Somerset Patriots). He helped lead the team to a title. He led Serie A1 with 103 innings and 26 strikeouts looking. He was 7th in ERA (2.01), third in strikeouts (84), third in wins (7-4) and led with 13 hit batsmen. In the finals, he won twice, including the decisive game five to give Grosseto the title. Mikkelsen won the Gold Glove Award as the top pitcher in the league. He also was one of three pitchers honored as All-Stars for 2007 in voting at www.baseball.it; Matteo D'Angelo and Emiliano Ginanneschi were the others. In the 2007 European Cup, he was 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA for Grosseto.

Mikkelsen returned to Grosseto in 2008 and threw a 6-inning, rain-shortened no-hitter on Opening Day, April 17, against the recently promoted Potocco Rangers. Mikkelsen also walked none but a Davide Dallospedale error cost him a perfect game. In the 2008 European Cup in Grosseto, Linc worked for the Silver Medal winners, going 1-1 with a 1.56 ERA for Montepaschi Grosseto. He struck out 16 in 17 1/3 IP to tie Horacio Estrada for second behind Jason Kosow. Mikkelsen tossed eight shutout innings in a win over the Belgian Royal Greys for a win. In the Gold Medal game, he also threw 8 shutout innings, against the defending champion, Kinheim. This time he was left in and blew the 1-0 lead as he wore down. Roel Koolen tripled to lead off the bottom of the 9th and scored on a René Cremer sac fly. Grosseto re-took the lead in the 10th but in the bottom of the inning, Mikkelsen allowed singles to Cremer and Dirk van 't Klooster. With one out, Tjerk Smeets drilled him for a game-ending 2-run double.

Following his professional career, he joined the amateur ranks, playing in a senior league in Michigan.

Sources include 1991-2007 Baseball Almanacs, CPBL Database by KT Choi, 2007 Serie A1 stats, 2008 European Cup in Grosseto