Rest in Peace Tyler Skaggs 1991-2019

I'm not going to mention every person that passes on and the idea of death is inevitably awkward, but it does seem to mean a little bit more when someone relatively notable passes like professional athlete or celebrity - maybe because they are in the spotlight and as far as a MLB player goes, someone who is supposed to be at their athletic peak in their late 20s.

A player's untimely passing makes me think for a moment about the times I've objectified these players as performers on the field, generating statistics I pore over on a day-to-day basis and guys whose autographs I have or don't have in my collection - at the end of the day, professional athletes are just like anybody else with their own lives.

I got my last Skaggs autograph is spring training this past year and he always seemed to be linked at the hip with teammate Andrew Heaney - for the most part, it hasn't been Mike Trout or Albert Pujols that end up doing the most 'fan service,' signing autographs and taking pictures with fans, but Skaggs and Heaney.