OC Register: Death of Tyler Skaggs is latest in long list of Angels tragedies

[AngelsWin.com]

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.

2019 – Tyler Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on Monday, July 1.

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[Broad Street]

That’s not even counting Valbuena and Tommy Hanson, though they weren’t technically members of the Angels at the time of their death. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

10 minutes ago, Randy Gradishar said:

Isn't the consensus that the Dave Henderson home run didn't have much to do with Donnie Moore's suicide? 

My dad always blamed how merciless our terrible fans were too him afterwards, rather than the homerun itself.

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, AngelsWin.com said:

1965 – Rookie reliever Dick Wantz

[GrittyVeterans]

Also, Aaron Cox was a member of the Angels organization when he passed.

It's just unbelievable 

[krAbs]

A good chunk of those are kinda what I would expect - baseball rosters are big, and things like car accidents happen over a 50 year period. That's probably a little more than you'd expect, but like...you SHOULD expect the occasional tragedy.

But like...man, some of those are just crazy. Lyman Bostock was weird, but then Donnie Moore and the bus incident? That shit is crazy. That is getting way outside of the bounds of what you'd expect.

[Angel Oracle]

17 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

My dad always blamed how merciless our terrible fans were too him afterwards, rather than the homerun itself.

It's ironic that the pitch wasn't a bad one.   Henderson just simply golfed it out.  

But even then, there were so many near misses after that. 

Wilfong tied it up in the bottom of the 9th with a great slide by Jones, but Wilfong failed to take 2nd on Evans' throw home.   Scofield's hit would have then won the game.

The red hot DeCinces hits a very short flyball with the AL pennant winning run at 3rd with one out in the bottom of the 9th, off of a pitcher seldom used (Jim Crawford).    

Pettis hits one to the wall in LF for an out in the bottom of the 10th inning.   Jim Rice even said that if not for Pettis hitting one near there the night before, he wouldn't have played so deep, and thus with 2 outs Pettis would have driven in Narron with the AL pennant winning run.  

[Puget Sound Angel]

After I got over the shock of Skaggs death,  all these tragedies were the first thing I thought of.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Ill add one. He didnt die, but Kent Merker (I think it was him) just about did... during the game.

I was there. Back when you could get great seats (field level, behind the plate) for dirt cheap. (Parking was affordable in those days).

I dont remember all the details. But seemed fine in the 1st inning. Second, I want to say he got a groundout. Then collapsed in the mound. Brain tumor (?) or something like that.

[Lou]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Ill add one. He didnt die, but Kent Merker (I think it was him) just about did... during the game.

I was there. Back when you could get great seats (field level, behind the plate) for dirt cheap. (Parking was affordable in those days).

I dont remember all the details. But seemed fine in the 1st inning. Second, I want to say he got a groundout. Then collapsed in the mound. Brain tumor (?) or something like that.

Yep, Kent Mercker. I was at that game (front row at end of our dugout). That was in 2000

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/angels-mercker-out-of-hospital/

 

[Taylor]

I forgot about Kent Mercker. I remember watching that on TV when I was 11 years old.