Luke Heimlich

Luke Andrew Heimlich

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6'0", Weight 190 lb.
• School Oregon State University
• High School Puyallup High School

• Born February 3, 1996 in Seattle, WA USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Anyone who was actively following baseball closely in the late 2010s will likely remember pitcher Luke Heimlich and the huge debate over whether or not he should have been drafted. Heimlich was a pitcher with no-doubt talent and was expected to be a potential first round pick until 2017 when it was revealed that he had sexually molested his four-year-old niece when he was 13 and had done so multiple times. This information did not come to light until it was believed that Heimlich failed to update his registration as a sex offender that year. The case sparked outrage and many were left wondering how this went unnoticed for so long, given that Heimlich was a high-profile athlete at Oregon State University. After this, Heimlich made the following statement: "I have taken responsibility for my conduct when I was a teenager," and decided to remove himself from the roster for the rest of the season. He was not selected in the 2017 Amateur Draft.

Heimlich returned to the Beavers in 2018, outraging people even more, with many then asking the question "why did the university let him return even after knowing he was a registered sex offender?" Strangely, Heimlich began to deny that he ever did anything to his niece and claimed he only agreed to plead guilty to get the case over with faster. Regardless of any of this, he ended up playing exceptionally well that year, winning the National Pitcher of the Year Award, setting the university's single-season strikeouts record with 159, and posting 16 wins and only 3 losses on the mound. With that, it seemed like he would likely be drafted that year, with many sites predicting it would happen in spite of his past offences. When asked, teams like the Texas Rangers stated openly that they would not draft him and a handful of other clubs said the same thing anonymously. Heimlich was once again not drafted but had teams like the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals speak to him about potentially signing a contract although nothing came of it.

On August 7, 2018, the Lamigo Monkeys of the CPBL attempted to sign Heimlich but the contract was terminated by the league because of his status a a sex offender.

On March 8, 2019 Heimlich signed with the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League. He appeared in 21 games for them, winning 8 and losing 7, and putting up an ERA of 4.58. That winter he was with the Caneros de Los Mochis. He retired from baseball after 2020, making him one of the biggest "what-if's" in baseball history.

After retirement from baseball Heimlich got into real estate and moved to Appleton, WI. In 2024 he joined Pfefferle management as senior property manager.