The shock and sadness of an active player’s death has overtaken baseball in the last 48 hours with the announcement that Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room Monday afternoon in Texas.
The Angels and Rangers immediately postponed the series opener on Monday night and then returned to the field on Tuesday night to play through the emotion and pain. Angels players wore a black patch with a white No. 45 — Skaggs’ number — on their jerseys. The Rangers grounds crew also painted a red No. 45 in the dirt at the back of the pitcher’s mound.