OC Register: Hundreds pay tribute to Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs in memorial

[AngelsWin.com]

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  Mourners including Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons attend a memorial service for Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Debbie Hetman, mother of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, embraces a girl during a memorial service for Skaggs on Monday at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica. Skaggs, 27, was found unresponsive in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Debbie Hetman, second from left, mother of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs enters a memorial service for Skaggs at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Mourners enter a memorial service for Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Members of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs’ family, including his mother Debbie Hetman, second from right, and stepfather Danny Hetman, attend a memorial service for Tyler Skaggs at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  A wreath honoring Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs’ #45 is brought into a memorial service at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  A floral arrangement with the jersey number for former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs is shown outside of the St. Monica Catholic Church during a memorial in his honor on Monday in Santa Monica. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Mourners embrace outside a memorial service for Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Mourners embrace outside a memorial service for Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  A poster honoring Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs is placed outside a memorial service for at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Debbie Hetman, right, mother of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs enters a memorial service for Skaggs at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, July 22, 2019. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, 2019. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani arrives for a memorial for former teammate Tyler Skaggs on Monday at the St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Carli Skaggs, center in burgundy dress, walks into St. Monica Catholic Church for a memorial for her husband, former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs on Monday in Santa Monica. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez). (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Debbie Hetman, left, mother of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, stands in front of images of Skaggs during a memorial in his honor at the St. Monica Catholic Church Monday, July 22, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Family members of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, including his mother Debbie Hetman, second from right, and stepfather Danny Hetman, far left, enter the St. Monica Catholic Church for a memorial in Skaggs’ honor on Monday in Santa Monica. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Debbie Hetman, left, facing camera, is hugged by a well-wisher during a memorial for her son, former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, at the St. Monica Catholic Church Monday, July 22, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  A woman wearing Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs’ number gets a hug during a memorial in Skaggs’ honor at the St. Monica Catholic Church Monday, July 22, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Members of the family of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs hold hands as they walk into the St. Monica Catholic Church for a memorial service in his honor on Monday in Santa Monica. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Angels players and other attendees, including shortstop Andrelton Simmons, right facing camera, arrive for a memorial for former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs on Monday at the St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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  Mourners embrace during a memorial for former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs at the St. Monica Catholic Church Monday, July 22, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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SANTA MONICA — Tyler Skaggs’ family and friends came together for a Celebration of Life on Monday in the city he loved, packing a church to laugh and cry together.

One by one, those touched by Skaggs from his birth to his last days stood up and painted portions of the same picture.

They described a young man overflowing with confidence, never afraid to be himself, even if it meant unabashedly singing an Elton John song at the top of his lungs.

They described someone everyone seemed to feel was his best friend.

Whether he was Ty or Tyler or Skaggsy or Swaggy didn’t matter.

“Whatever you called him, he was the exact same guy to everyone here and anyone who was lucky enough to be near him,” Andrew Heaney said in a tearful tribute to his former Angels teammate. “He was a genuine and caring person. He was intense about being a great friend and great teammate.”

Skaggs was less than two weeks shy of his 28th birthday when he was found unresponsive in a Texas hotel room on July 1, news that rocked the Angels, Major League Baseball and his hometown of Santa Monica.

The Angels had spent the past three weeks pressing on in his memory, including an awe-inspiring combined no-hitter with the entire team wearing his No. 45 on July 12.

On Monday, though, with a break in the relentless baseball schedule, hundreds of people filled St. Monica Church for a memorial service, looking up at photos of Skaggs and his No. 45 in red and white flowers,

Just about the entire Angels family – from owner Arte Moreno on down – was there, including longtime Manager Mike Scioscia and Angels greats Chuck Finley and Tim Salmon.

The current players, coaches, trainers, clubhouse staff and media relations people arrived in busloads. Many players who had been sent to Triple-A or even released, such as Matt Harvey, were nonetheless there to pay their respects.

Former teammates Jered Weaver, Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Bud Norris, David Freese, Collin Cowgill, C.J. Wilson and Jett Bandy were there. Former big leaguer Trevor Plouffe, a Santa Monica native who had been friends with Skaggs since they were kids, was one of 14 people who gave personal reflections on Skaggs during the ceremony.

Tim Mead, the longtime Angels vice president in charge of communications and recently appointed president of the baseball Hall of Fame, came and spoke. It was less than 24 hours after he’d overseen the induction ceremony in Cooperstown.

Outside the church, a truck from In-n-Out – one of Skaggs’ favorites – was waiting for the reception.

Among Skaggs’ family members, the speakers included two of his aunts, his step-brother, his brother-in-law, his wife’s grandmother and, the final speaker, his wife, Carli.

Their stories ranged from Skaggs as an adorable ring bearer at his aunt’s wedding to being a cheerleader with his cousin in the backyard.

Ryan Hamill, who was Skaggs’ agent, described the beginnings of Skaggs’ development into a major league pitcher. Hamill said he and partner Nez Balelo had heard a story of a lanky left-hander from Santa Monica High.

“When we showed up to the field I swear we saw what looked like a broomstick with a hat on the mound,” Hamill said. “He was all of 6-4, 160 pounds soaking wet. I swear a strong wind would have blown him to the 10 freeway.

“As we watched him throw, we saw a true athlete throwing 84 with a repeatable delivery. And then we saw it. We saw the famous curveball for a strikeout, followed by his little Swaggy walk back to the dugout. It was beautiful.”

That confidence helped Skaggs become the 40th overall pick in the 2009 draft, shortly before he met Garrett Richards, who the Angels selected out of Oklahoma in the same draft.

“Tall and skinny with a pair of (Jordans), basketball shorts and a tank top with diamond earrings, he instantaneously stood out to me,” said Richards, who took time from rehabbing from Tommy John surgery with the San Diego Padres to speak at the ceremony.

Richards and Skaggs were teammates in the Angels’ rotation for most of five years.

“We spent a lot of time on the starters bench (in the dugout) when we weren’t pitching,” Richards said. “This is where we had some of our best conversations. Anything from going over the team’s lineup to talking about NBA basketball. We’d go back and forth about the Thunder and the Lakers. Tyler would always end the conversation with one word: banners.”

Richards called Skaggs a “brother” and several others referred to him as a best friend.

Jeff Fishman, Skaggs’ friend and financial advisor, made the point when he asked all of those who considered Skaggs one of their closest friends to stand.

Dozens of people throughout the church stood.

“We all felt like we had a special relationship with him every day, even if we were only communicating through a brief text,” Fishman said. “What more needs to be said about Tyler? All of you bear witness to the incredible impact he had on so many, and that qualifies Tyler as a first-ballot Hall of Famer in the most important game of all: the game of life.”

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[VariousCrap]

Ugh....those photos are heartbreaking.

 

 

[Slegnaac]

Fox Sports West will televise the Celebration tonight at 7PM Pacific time.