'Part of the game': Pitcher painkiller habits exposed at Skaggs wrongful death trial
SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) — Mike Morin, a onetime friend and teammate of deceased Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, took the stand Tuesday during the wrongful death civil trial brought by Skaggs’ family, providing a rare behind-the-curtain look at the arduous life of a big league ballplayer, the stresses felt by trying maintain a toehold at the highest echelon of the game and nuanced reasons for both his and Skaggs’ illicit drug use.
Skaggs’ surviving wife and parents are suing the Angels, saying the organization knew that one of its employees, communications director Eric Kay, was not only a drug addict but also selling pills to numerous players. They argue it was negligent to allow Kay to travel with the team to Texas in 2019, when he sold Skaggs a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl that led to his fatal overdose.
Kay is currently serving 22 years in federal prison for his part in the death. Now the Skaggs family is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from the Angels for their liability.
Much of the trial, now in its second month, has turned on the actions of the organization in response to Kay’s behavior: How many people knew he was a drug addict? Should he have been fired? And who knew he was selling pills to players? This week, rather belatedly, the focus has shifted to Skaggs.
https://www.courthousenews.com/part-of-the-game-pitcher-painkiller-habits-exposed-at-skaggs-wrongful-death-trial/