LEGENDS of SANTA MONICA LITTLE LEAGUE

LUCAS GIOLITO:


2019 MLB All Star | 2020 No-Hit Game | 2012 MLB 1st Round Draft Pick | 2006 SMLL All-Star Champion

Lucas Giolito is one of today's top MLB starting pitchers having signed a blockbuster free agent deal this Winter with the Boston Red Sox heading into the 2024 season. 

Giolito's baseball journey began in T-ball and coach pitch at Santa Monica Little League. His most memorable moment came in 2006, when he hit a walk-off grand slam at age 11 to help the Santa Monica Little League 12U All-Star Team win the District 25 Championship. Giolito attributes that home-run as the moment he fell in love with baseball, realizing the joy of playing and winning in the game.

Giolito went on to attend Harvard-Westlake high school, where he became a stand out pitcher, forming a formidable pitching rotation alongside future MLB starters, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty. Giolito earned accolades as top high school pitcher in the nation, becoming the 16th overall pick by the Washington Nationals in the first round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft. In 2014, he was selected as the Top Minor League Prospect and on the All-Star Futures Game roster. In 2016, he made his Major League debut with the Washington Nationals.  

After being traded to the White Sox in 2017, Giolito would go on to become one of MLB's top starting pitchers. In 2019, Giolito's second season with the White Sox, he went on a nine-game winning streak, starting the year with a 10-1 record. He was awarded AL pitcher of the month for May. In June, Giolito was named to the 2019 MLB All-Star Game. He pitched one scoreless inning in a 4–3 victory for the American League. Giolito finished the 2019 season with a 14–9 record, a 3.41 ERA, 228 strikeouts and three complete games. He also finished 6th in the AL Cy Young Award voting.

On August 25, 2020, Giolito throw his first No-Hitter in a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He struck out 13 batters and threw 74 of 101 pitches for strikes; a fourth-inning walk was the only blemish in an otherwise perfect game. That season, Giolito helped the White Sox to the playoffs, making his postseason debut against the Oakland Athletics as the Game 1 starter of the Wild Card Series.  He pitched 7 innings giving up 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 run, and struck out 8. He retired the first 18 batters he faced in that game. He picked up the win as the White Sox beat the Athletics with a final score of 4–1.

In 2023, Giolito was traded from the Chicago White Sox in a blockbuster "Trade Deadline" deal to his hometown Los Angeles Angels. In the final month of the year, he moved to the Cleveland Guardians. In 2024, entering his age 29 season with the Boston Red Sox, Giolito embarks on the next chapter of his career with a bright future ahead as one of MLB's top stars. 

TYLER SKAGGS:

2009 MLB 1st Round Draft Pick | 2x All-Star Futures Game Selection

Tyler Skaggs pitched seven seasons in the Majors for the Angels and Diamondbacks. He was a first round draft pick in 2009, becoming one of MLB's top pitching prospects, and an eventual cornerstone of the Los Angeles Angels' rotation.

Tyler's baseball journey started in Santa Monica Little League with T-ball at age 5, followed by playing at every level and travel ball. Tyler went on to become a standout pitcher at Santa Monica High School, attracting MLB scouts with his increased velocity in his Senior year. Forgoing college, Tyler would be drafted after high school, in the first round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Angels.

A year later, Tyler would be part of a blockbuster, five-player trade that would send 3x All Star Dan Haren to the Angeles and Skaggs to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

As a Diamondback, Tyler would quickly become one of baseball's top pitching prospects earning back to back selections in the 2011 and 2012 All-Star Futures Game, pitching a scoreless inning in each game.

On Aug 22, 2012, Tyler made his MLB debut with Diamondbacks earning his first MLB win over the Miami Marlins. In 2013, Skaggs returned to the Angels in a three-team trade that sent Mark Trumbo from the Angeles to the D-Backs

In addition to accomplishments on the field, Tyler had his biggest impact off the field, leveraging his status as a Major League pitcher to give back to the community. Tyler loved to mentor young people, encouraging them to work hard to achieve their dreams, and to provide comfort and lift up those facing significant health challenges. His favorite volunteer stops were Children’s Hospital of Orange County, the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica, and the three schools he attended growing up: Roosevelt Elementary, Lincoln Middle School and Santa Monica High. “If someone asked him to help out with something, he always went,” said his mother, Debbie.

The same was true on the field. At the time of his death, Tyler was the anchor of the Angels starting rotation, leading the team in wins, ERA, innings pitched, games started and strike-outs.

In the Angels’ first game back home in Anaheim after Tyler's passing, his teammates payed tribute to Tyler by all wearing his no. 45. On an emotionally filled evening, Ange's pitchers, Tyler Cole and Felix Peña combined to throw a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners, as Tyler's teammates honored his memory. The game is considered a classic and one of the most memorable ever played at Angels Stadium.

TIM LEARY: 


13 year MLB career | 1988 World Series Champ | 1988 MLB Comeback Player of the Year | UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame

The baseball journey for Time Leary began on the fields of Santa Monica Little League, where he would earn All Star selections as an 11 and 12 year-old. He would go on to become a standout at Santa Monica High School (SaMoHi) posting a 10-2 record in 1976 and earning All-CIF first-team honors. He led his American Legion Team to the national championship by going 19-1. In 1978, he helped lead the USA Amateur Team to the silver medal in the World Cup played in Italy.

At UCLA, Leary became a three-year letterman (1977-79) with a combined 21-15 record and a 3.09 ERA with 258 strikeouts, the fourth highest total in school history. Leary pitched 16 complete games while at UCLA, which is still the school’s all-time record. He was selected to The Sporting News All-America squad and earned Academic All-American honors in 1979. 

Leary was selected by the New York Mets with the second pick of the first round in the 1979 baseball draft. He pitched in the majors for 13  years with the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers.

His best season in MLB was in 1988 when he helped lead the hometown Dodgers to the World Series Championship over the favored Oakland Athletics. He was named as the National League Comeback Player of the Year, finishing the season with a 17-11 record and a 2.90 ERA. He ranked second in the National League in shutouts (six), fifth in complete games (nine) and sixth in wins (17) and strikeouts (180). He pitched a one-hitter on May 25 at Philadelphia and struck out a career-high 12 on August 21 vs. Montreal. He allowed just one run over six and two thirds innings (1.35 ERA) in two World Series.

In 1991 Leary was elected to the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame, joining Jackie Robinson and former American League President Dr. Bobby Brown as the only baseball inductees.


RICK MONDAY:


2x MLB All Star | 1981 World Series Champion | #1 Inaugural MLB Draft Pick | College Baseball Hall of Fame

Rick Monday is best remembered for his act of patriotism in arguably the greatest moment in Dodger Stadium history. On April 25, 1976 at Dodger Stadium, two protesters attempted to set fire to an American flag in the outfield and Monday, playing for the Chicago Cubs at the time, ran over and grabbed the flag out of their hands as the crowd erupted in cheers. The scoreboard behind the left-field bleachers in the stadium later flashed the message, "Rick Monday... You Made A Great Play...". He would later receive the Presidential Commendation for “Service To Others” from Gerald Ford.

Monday's baseball journey started in the 1950's in Santa Monica, playing Little League as a 12-year old and listening to Vin Scully and the newly relocated Dodgers on radio with his mother an avid fan. Monday starred at Santa Monica High School, where he was nearly signed by Dodger scout, Tom Lasorda.  Monday opted for college and at Arizona State University, led the Sun Devils to the 1965 College World Series Championship and earned All-American and College Player of the Year honors before the Kansas City Athletics made him the first player ever selected in the Major League First-Year Player Draft in 1965.

He was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame in 1975 and the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Monday made his Major League debut in 1966 and, after spending six seasons with the Athletics and five seasons with the Cubs, came to the Dodgers as part of a five-player trade in 1977. He played eight seasons in LA, and propelled the Dodgers to the 1981 World Series with a dramatic, game-winning home run in the winner-take-all Game 5 of the NLCS at Montreal. Overall, Monday compiled a .264 career batting average with 241 home runs and 775 RBI, with two All-Star Game selections in 19 big-league seasons, while helping the Dodgers win a World Championship in 1981 and three NL pennants (1977, 1978, 1981).

In 2024, Monday enters his 31st season as a Dodger broadcaster and 39th season overall with the organization, including eight as a player. Monday, who joined the Dodgers’ broadcast team in 1993. Monday has also called games for the College World Series and spent four seasons with the Padres.