Watch: Laughter Turns to Tears Following Angels' First Game After Pitcher's Death
The Los Angeles Angels played their first game Tuesday after the tragic death of teammate Tyler Skaggs, and they paid tribute to their teammate and friend.
“To lose somebody like him, it’s tough,” Angels superstar Mike Trout said of Skaggs, fighting back the tears during a news conference in Arlington, Texas, after a game against the Rangers.
Skaggs, 27, was found unconscious Monday in his hotel room in Southlake, north of Arlington, and after police arrived he was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death is unknown.
“My first at-bat, I get up there and all I do is think about him,” Trout said, surrounded by his teammates. “I talked to Brad [Ausmus, Angels manager] in the hotel, actually before the game, and it’s just a different feeling. … I’m just in shock. I’m walking around the hotel and you just always think about him.”
“It’s going to be tough, but like Brad said, getting to the game and playing through the game got our minds off it but it’s bigger than the game,” Trout said. “The friendship and the love I had for him and his family … it’s more than that.”
An emotional Angels star Mike Trout: “My first at-bat, I get up there, and all I do is think about him.”#TylerSkaggs pic.twitter.com/wN3UeQhUho
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) July 3, 2019
The Rangers held a moment of silence before the game at Globe Life Park in Arlington for Skaggs. Angels pitchers Andrew Heaney and Cam Bedrosian held up Skaggs’ jersey, No. 45, during the moment of silence. They then hung his jersey in their dugout during the game.
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 3, 2019
After the game, Heaney, who was Skaggs’ best friend on the team, couldn’t contain his emotions.
When Angels arrived to clubhouse today, Tyler Skaggs’ jersey was hanging in his locker. His teammates brought it to dugout.
“We wanted to take him out there with us one more time,” fellow pitcher Andrew Heaney said. pic.twitter.com/WA6wWbcU83
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) July 3, 2019
“That was just kind of something unplanned,” he said about bringing Skaggs’ jersey out to the field. “His jersey was hanging in his locker, and we wanted to take him out here with us one more time.”
“He meant so much to all of us,” the pitcher said, breaking down as Trout hugged him for support.
“He was definitely my best friend,” Heaney said. “There are probably about 100 other people out there who would say that he was their best friend too because he treated everybody like that. He just had such an infectious personality.”
Angels outfielder Justin Upton made everyone laugh with a comment that Skaggs would have said about the team. But then that laughter soon turned to tears.
“Right now he’d be saying we’re nasty,” Upton said, bringing a moment of levity to the room.
Laughter as Angels imagine how Tyler Skaggs would describe win: “We’re nasty!”
But then, tears. pic.twitter.com/xKW7om3DUT
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) July 3, 2019
“Honestly, there was nobody happier to win a ballgame than Skaggs,” Upton said. “Every time he came off the mound and got done pitching, he would stay in the dugout and pump the guys up. And he’d go upstairs and wait in that hallway when we’d win a ball game. There was no more energy than he brought.”
The Rangers painted 45 on the mound in honor of Skaggs.
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 2, 2019
His loss was felt throughout the league. Washington Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin, a good friend of Skaggs, wore No. 45 as he pitched a gem in the Nats’ 3-2 win over the Marlins on Tuesday.
Sometimes the scorebook doesn’t do it justice.#BiggerThanBaseball // #OnePursuit pic.twitter.com/9jMXIqe00J
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 3, 2019
“There’s no playbook on how it’s supposed to go today and how you’re supposed to act and react,” Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun said after the game, USA Today reported.
Calhoun went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to lead the Angels to a 9-4 win Tuesday.
“It kind of felt right, you know?” he said. “When I got to the plate, it just felt right to pay some respects to him. You know we’ve got an Angel watching over us.”
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