Tyler Skaggs and His Wife Opened up About Starting a Family Before His Death

Weeks before Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Tyler Skaggs' death on July 1, Skaggs and his wife Carli Miles said in joint interview that they planned on starting a family. The couple spoke to Wealth Management in April, after learning to make it through financial hardships caused by their wedding, which was thrown into chaos after the Southern California wildfires last fall.

In the April interview, the Skaggs said they only recently bought a home together in his hometown of Santa Monica, California and started a "rainy day fund." They also revealed their future plans.

"Tyler wants his children to be able to see him pitch," Carli said.

Skaggs' love of passing on baseball to the next generation is at the heart of the Tyler Skaggs Baseball Foundation his family set up.

"Tyler never missed an opportunity to empower his community, especially its youngest members," Skaggs' family said in a statement on the foundation's website. "You could find him at the children's hospital volunteering, at local elementary schools as a youth mentor, and even at the neighborhood park teaching young baseball fans how to throw a perfect curveball."

The foundation was established to honor Skaggs' legacy and his commitment to using his fame to help children and their families.

In the interview with Wealth Management, Skaggs and Carli talked about how their wedding was almost ruined after their venue of choice was nearly destroyed in the California wildfires in late 2018. However, Skaggs was humble about the situation, understanding that many people lost everything they had.

"This was important to us. But it was nothing compared to the way people's lives were being impacted," Skaggs told the magazine.

Thankfully, the venue was not destroyed, so Skaggs and Carli were "very lucky" to have the wedding as originally planned.

"A thousand things go into planning a wedding, but no one ever plans on their venue burning," Skaggs said.

Most of Calamigos Ranch was destroyed, but the rooms the Skaggs were using for their wedding somehow were saved. Still, many of the guests could not make it because roads were impassable.

"Five days before the wedding, we learned the guest ranch would not be available due to the fire," Carli said. "The fires were followed by the threat of rain, which meant mudslides were a possibility."

Skaggs died on July 1. He was found unconscious in his Texas hotel room, just hours before the Angels were set to play the Texas Rangers. Skaggs was 27 years old.

The cause of death will likely not be known until Oct. 2 at the earliest. The Tarrant County, Texas Medical Examiner said his family asked the office to withhold information until the autopsy is complete, which will likely not be until this fall. However, suicide and foul play have been ruled out.

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