Death of Tyler Skaggs is latest in long list of Angels tragedies
The death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs on Monday, July 1, 2019 is the latest in a long line of tragedies that have marked the Angels’ history:
1965 – Rookie reliever Dick Wantz made his major-league debut with the Angels on April 13, pitching one inning in a 7-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians. It was his only major-league game. One month later, he was dead from a brain tumor.
1968 – Reliever Minnie Rojas was paralyzed in a car accident that also took the lives of two of his three children. Rojas, his wife and three children were traveling in Miami when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver. Rojas set the Angels’ franchise record with 27 saves in 1967. The club record stood until it was broken by Donnie Moore in 1985.
1972 – Backup infielder Chico Ruiz was killed in a car accident in San Diego on Feb. 9. Ruiz, 33 at the time of his death, had an eight-year major-league career with the Reds and Angels. The highlight came in 1964 when his improbable steal of home during a game against the Phillies contributed to that team’s famous pennant-race collapse.
1974 – During spring training, promising left-handed pitcher Bruce Heinbechner died in a car accident in Palm Springs. Heinbechner, 23, was 10-5 in Triple-A in 1973 and was competing for a spot on the Angels’ roster at the time of the accident.
1977 – Infielder Mike Miley was killed in a car accident in Louisiana on Jan. 6. Miley, 23, made the majors with the Angels in 1973 and 1974, splitting time between the majors and Triple-A.
1978 – Outfielder Lyman Bostock was a rising star when he signed with the Angels as a free agent. He endeared himself to Angels fans forever when he offered to return his paycheck to Angels owner Gene Autry after getting off to a bad start. Bostock, 27, was visiting family and friends in his hometown of Gary, Ind. following an Angels game in Chicago on Sept. 23 when he was shot and killed while sitting in the back seat of a car stopped at an intersection.
1989 – Reliever Donnie Moore shot his wife then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide on July 18. Three years earlier, Moore had allowed a memorable home run in the American League Championship Series, blowing a save that could have sent the Angels to their first World Series. Lingering depression over that game and the subsequent descent of his career is believed to have led to his suicide.
1992 – During an East Coast road trip in May, the Angels were traveling by bus from New York to Baltimore when the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The bus drifted off the New Jersey Turnpike and crashed. Thirteen members of the Angels’ traveling party were injured including manager Buck Rodgers who spent three months in the hospital, recovering.
2009 – Just hours after pitching six shutout innings in a loss to the Oakland A’s, Nick Adenhart and two friends were killed in a car accident in Fullerton.
2018 — After spending most of the 2017 and 2018 seasons with the Angels, infielder Luis Valbuena returned to his native Venezuela and was playing in the winter league there when he and teammate Jose Castillo and Carlos Rivero were ambushed by highway robbers. The driver of the car carrying the three players tried to evade the robbers but crashed the car. Valbuena and Castillo were killed.
2019 – Tyler Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on Monday, July 1.