It’s NOT my fault…Even though it IS!

 

By…Erik Schuman

 

After a break I am back and from now on will be posting every week.

On July 1, 2019 Anaheim Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room just before the Angels were set to play the Texas Rangers (I know the team is technically: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim but I have lived near Anaheim for a long time and I refuse to call a team that DOES NOT PLAY IN LOS ANGELES – LOS ANGELES! They will be the Anaheim Angels to me until they either change the name or fold operations – neither of which I expect to happen).

There was a lot of sorrow over the 27-year-old’s passing. How could someone in such great health suddenly die? The Angels honored Skaggs’ memory in their first home games since his passing, on July 12. His mother threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The players all wore #45, his number, and the team combined to throw a no-hitter. It was a truly touching moment and one of the highlights of another awful season for a team that is wasting the talents of Mike Trout, the unquestioned best player in the game. After the game, all players took off their jerseys and draped it over the mound, as you can see here:

While there were suspicions about how Skaggs died nothing was made official until the autopsy results were released. Once they were the quiet rumblings about it being drug related were confirmed. Skaggs died of a Fentanyl overdose and had a BAC of 0.12. He died by choking on vomit after using drugs and alcohol, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. High levels of opioids, including fentanyl, oxycodone and oxymorphone, were found in his system, as well as alcohol, according to toxicology results. It was revealed that the Angels Director of Communications, Eric Kay, provided the pills to Skaggs.

As we all knew would happen, Skaggs’ family recently filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. They hired (in)famous attorney Rusty Hardin from the law firm of “Dewey, Cheatem & Howe.” Harden said in a statement: "The family is deeply heartbroken to learn that Tyler would be alive today were it not for a pill containing fentanyl that was provided by the Director of Communications of the Angels.”

This where I step in. I am truly sorry Tyler Skaggs died. I am truly sorry he left behind a wife as well as parents. As a cancer survivor it pains me to see anyone die of cancer or anything else, they had no control over. But Hardin is 100% DEAD WRONG here!

Tyler Skaggs would still be alive today if weren’t for the actions of……….Tyler Wayne Skaggs!

Eric Kay provided Skaggs the pills. Looking at texts between the two and hearing what Kay had to say this was not the first time Kay did this for Skaggs. Or others on the team. It also would not have been the last.

He only did it because Skaggs requested it. Kay did not initiate things. In professional sports, as well as other aspects of life, those who need something done that is not legal (or close to it), have someone else do it for them. This way if/when things unravel the high-profile person can say they had nothing to do with it. This is called:

• Plausible Deniability: A condition in which a subject can safely and believably deny knowledge of any particular truth that may exist because the subject is deliberately made unaware of said truth so as to benefit or shield the subject from any responsibility associated through the knowledge of such truth.

How many times have we read about some star athlete or big-name celebrity being pulled over while driving and once the cops check the car, drugs are found? Everyone in the car, except the big name, takes responsibility for it. Even though it was the big-name star’s money that bought it since none of his other homeys have that kind of money to buy it. The friends “take the bullet” to shield the big-name. Even though all are to blame. There are a combined 122 teams in MLB, NHL, NBA and NFL. My guess is you can count on one hand, and have more fingers left over than used, the number of teams that have someone doing exactly what Kay did.

This is what happened to Greg Anderson. Anderson was Barry Bonds’ personal trainer. He refused to testify to a federal grand jury about Bonds possibly taking PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) and because of it was sent to prison. I am not 100% sure but I am 100% sure Bonds told Anderson to “shut up” and not testify and in exchange Bonds’ would very handsomely reward Anderson. Whatever Bonds paid Anderson was well worth it - to Bonds. Knowing what Barry Bonds is worth, paying Anderson at least $5 million is nothing to Bonds. It also helps Anderson since now anyone wanting his services knows he won’t rat them out.

I have been told stuff about Kay, and what I have been told is that Kay is a “jock sniffer” – someone who loves being around professional athletes. The only difference between Kay and the hordes of beautiful women who hang out at the ballpark/stadium where athletes hang out in hopes of marrying one of them or producing a 18-year “lottery ticket” (child) is an Adam’s Apple and a different set of “plumbing” between their legs. Other than that Kay and these women are after the same thing. Kay did the same thing someone on almost all of the other 121 does on a regular basis. Or did up until July 1, 2019.

The exact amount of the lawsuit had not been determined yet but expect it to be quite significant since Skaggs would have been a free agent after the 2021 season. Skaggs would have been 30 and because he is a lefty would have easily commanded a 9-figure deal even though his career record was 28-38. He was HIS family’s “lottery ticket” and now the riches his family would have enjoyed is gone. While Hardin is going after Kay it is only a matter of time before Arte Moreno and the Angels get sued. They have much deeper pockets than Kay. Hardin can get a trillion-dollar judgment against Kay but will never see a penny of it. He knows that. But WHEN Kay sues the Angels he will get money from it. Lots of it. Almost certainly an 8-figure amount. It won’t replace the 9-figure deal Skaggs would have signed but it will help ease the pain of his loss.

I want to make it perfectly clear: I am truly sad Skaggs died. I don’t know firsthand what drugs and alcohol abuse to do a person, but I have seen enough instances of people who have fallen to these and it is not pretty. It is a vicious cycle of needing the drug to survive and people will do anything to get their fix. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G! Those who have overcome drug/alcohol abuse look back on their lives when they were addicts and are not proud of the person they were. They are now but not then. Drug and alcohol abuse tears apart families. It is a problem we do not take serious enough here in the United States, but it is only getting worse and the number of people afflicted seemingly increases every day.

What Kay did was wrong. No one can dispute that. He is cooperating with authorities on this case but all it will do is reduce his prison sentence. But to say Tyler Skaggs would still be alive today if not for Eric Kay is laughably absurd. If Rusty Hardin wants to sue someone it should be Skaggs' wife and parents for sitting by and doing nothing to stop Tyler's drug problem. They knew. Families always know unless they are complicit in the activities and know stopping it will stop the checks from rolling in. Or just clueless. With Skaggs - I will go for the former.

Tyler Skaggs is dead because of……….Tyler Skaggs!