Giancarlo Stanton posts heartfelt message for Angels after death of Tyler Skaggs
Tragedy hit all of baseball on Monday with the untimely death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who was found dead in his hotel room during a road trip in Texas.
Skaggs’ death triggered an outpouring of emotion from figures across the league. One of the later reactions came from New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who posted a direct message to the Angels through Instagram on Monday night.
The message features wisdom that Stanton likely learned from another devastating episode for MLB, the death of his Marlins teammate Jose Fernandez in 2016.
The full text of Stanton’s post:
RIP Bro, My heart goes out to your family🙏🏽 My message to the @angels while having no time for yourself to grieve is to hug each other, laugh, cry, lift the ones taking it extra hard up.
You’re going to wonder why all of this is happening , is it real, why are u suiting up to play a game that seems irrelevant.
Some Anger will ensue while u have to grieve in a fish bowl.. A lot will go through your mind. So stay together through that.
The first days back to schedule are the weirdest feeling, from the energy to the questions to having to walk by his locker.
Try to Focus & understand how important your strength is for his family, all of your supporters & anyone looking for the power to overcome something. They’re looking @ you for guidance. So you all really need each other right now.
Stay strong fellas I’m thinking about you!
Sadly, there are also multiple Angels who already had experience with the death of a teammate. First baseman Justin Bour was a member of the 2016 Marlins who went through Fernandez’s death, and Albert Pujols had St. Louis Cardinals teammate Darryl Kile die of a heart attack in 2002. Backup outfielder Peter Bourjos was a member of the 2014 Cardinals, the only team Oscar Taveras played for before his death in a car crash.
Additionally, anyone working for the Angels organization since 2009 also had to face the death of pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed by a drunk driver. The Angels were also Luis Valbuena’s final team before his death last offseason during an attempted highway robbery.
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