Late Tyler Skaggs shared special bond with fellow pitcher from his hometown
The news of Tyler Skaggs’ death on Monday hit especially hard for fellow pitcher Conner Greene, who had a special bond with the Los Angeles Angels pitcher who was found unresponsive in the team hotel in Texas.
“I never understood when people said larger than life, but I actually do now,’’ Greene told USA TODAY Sports. “Because he really touched so many people.’’
Both Greene and Skaggs starred for Santa Monica High School in Southern California, and Greene, a minor league pitcher in the Kansas City Royals organization, said he recently heard from Skaggs.
“I was going through a couple of tough outings and he asked me how I was doing,’’ Greene, 24, told USA TODAY Sports, “and I let him know and he said 'get your head up. It’s a road you can easily make.' And he instilled more confidence in me again. He knows what to say when you need it and he’s there for you.
“The whole city of Santa Monica is grieving, I promise you. I got 100 messages in my phone right now, and it’s all the love, all the people that love him.’’
Greene was a freshman at Santa Monica High when Skaggs was a senior who was dominating hitters and was selected 40th overall by the Angels in the 2009 MLB draft. Though they were never teammates, Greene said he considered Skaggs an older brother.
“Once he saw that I had the talent, he became a mentor,’’ Greene said. “But at first he just befriended me as another young baseball player that was just around.
“He gave me confidence like I could do it just like he could. And when he got drafted first round, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and I wanted to do that, just like Tyler Skaggs.’’
Greene was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. Still looking to get to the major leagues, Greene said he found hope and inspiration from Skaggs, who was in his seventh season in the majors.
Tyler Skaggs during a June game. (Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports)
“Tyler Skaggs was like the golden child of Santa Monica,’’ Greene said. “He made it to the big leagues. Everyone looked up to him and everyone was happy for him. And we all felt success through his success.’’
But Greene stressed that Skaggs was defined by more than baseball success. He noted that just hours before Skaggs' death, the Angels pitcher posted on his Instagram a group photo of the Angels about to board their flight to Texas.
View this post on Instagram
Howdy y’all ? #TexasRoadtrip
A post shared by tskaggs45 (@tskaggs45) on
Skaggs and his teammates were wearing cowboy hats and he captioned the photo, “Howdy Ya’ll #TexasRoadTrip” with a cowboy emoji.
"That describes Tyler,'' Greene said. "It was him smiling and him doing exactly how I will remember Tyler Skaggs — the fun-loving energy in the room.''
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