After the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, they spoke to media about Tyler Skaggs.
Skaggs died Monday at 27. Through tears, his teammates spoke of how much he meant to the team, its players, and even people outside of baseball.
Forever in our hearts. pic.twitter.com/ic7FPPaQR2
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 3, 2019
"I can’t explain it, man," outfielder Mike Trout said. "Lost a teammate, lost a friend, a brother. Just gotta get through it. Skaggs was an unbelievable person."
"I see these guys more than my family," Trout added. "To lose somebody like him, it’s tough. My first at-bat, I get up there and all I do is think about him. I talked to Brad in the hotel before the game, was just a different feeling. Just in shock."
Fellow outfielder Kole Calhoun hit a home run in the victory and pointed to the sky as he reached the plate.
"We know we’ve got an angel watching over us now," Calhoun said. "He was a guy that lit up the room. Just like Trout said, just like everybody’s been saying, his energy, and his positivity, and just the person that he was. It ran deep. ... There’s no playbook on how it’s supposed to go today."
Pitcher Andrew Heaney spoke about taking Skaggs' jersey out to the field after seeing it in his locker.
"We wanted to take him out there with us one more time," Heaney said. "He meant so much to all of us. He was definitely my best friend. There’s probably about 100 other people out there who would say that he was their best friend, too, because he treated everyone like that. He just had such an infectious personality."
The Angels continue their series against the Rangers on Wednesday.
