Jeff Van Houten, one of Arizona baseball’s most prolific hitters and a member of the 2004 College World Series team, died late last week.
Van Houten, who was from the Phoenix area, was 37 years old. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Van Houten played for the UA from 2002-05. He ranks in the top seven in school annals in runs, hits, multihit games, extra-base hits, triples, total bases, walks and runs batted in. Van Houten’s 213 RBIs rank second in UA history behind Ron Hassey’s 235.
Van Houten twice earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors, in 2003 and ’05. The outfielder led the conference with a .413 batting average in ’03. He also had a team-best 71 RBIs that year.
Van Houten’s coach with the Wildcats, Andy Lopez, found out about his former player’s passing Friday.
“It’s a kick to the stomach,” Lopez said. “You hate hearing that about anybody. That’s a young life taken. That’s a tragedy.”
Lopez recalled a conversation with UCLA coach John Savage about Van Houten, whom Savage also faced while coaching UC Irvine. Van Houten’s teammates included several future major leaguers – Trevor Crowe, Nick Hundley, Jason Donald. But at the end of a weekend series against Arizona, Savage told Lopez: “You know your best hitter’s Van Houten. We can’t figure out a way to get him out.”
“He had unbelievable bat speed,” Lopez said. “And a great knowledge of the strike zone.”
Van Houten was selected in the 13th round of the 2005 MLB draft by the Florida Marlins. He played two seasons in the minors, slashing .263/.343/.472 and hitting 21 home runs in 494 at-bats. Van Houten also played one season of independent baseball in 2008.
