Shocking development regarding Tyler Skaggs' passing includes former Cardinals legend

On July 1, 2019, starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs of the Los Angeles Angels was found dead in his hotel room. The county examiner found that Skaggs, 27 at the time, died of a drug overdose.

After several years of investigation and interrogation, Eric Kay, a former employee of the Angels, had provided Skaggs with the drugs. Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison as a result of his involvement in Tyler Skaggs's passing.

Further investigation and reporting has revealed several interesting tidbits about this case, and one such fact has involved a former St. Louis Cardinals great.

Former St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols apparently joked around with Eric Kay while with the Los Angeles Angels.

Albert Pujols played with the Los Angeles Angels for nearly a decade after his time in St. Louis was over. Pujols faded while with the Angels, posting a cumulative .758 OPS across 10 years. He wasn't able to help lead the Angels to postseason success with fellow legends in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

Pujols, the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award in 2008, has always been spoken about in a positive manner by his teammates and coaches. His philanthropic efforts and leadership abilities were well known in MLB clubhouses across the league.

Following Tyler Skaggs's passing in 2019, Pujols spoke candidly about the young starter. "It’s tough. It’s something you don’t expect. Tyler was one of the best teammates I’ve been around. He is forever going to be missed in this organization," said Albert back in 2019. "It’s a shocker. Sometimes, I look on the center-field wall and see his picture. I can’t believe he is no longer with us and his family, and it’s sad. He was such a young man. You don’t have words to say to try to make people understand."

As the years have gone by, several nuggets and anecdotes have surfaced surrounding Tyler Skaggs and Eric Kay. One such detail that surfaced recently involved Albert Pujols but in a questionable way.

Kris Constanti, a former Angels clubbie, testified recently about Eric Kay's drug addiction throughout his time with Los Angeles. According to Sam Blum of The Athletic, "(Constanti) testified in court on Tuesday that the team’s former communications director, Eric Kay, was known within the organization to be a drug addict, and that Kay had told him of his drug use."

Kay's drug addiction led to him partaking in dangerous situations while with the Angels, including getting hit by pitches on purpose. In one video shown during Constanti's testimony, Kay can be seen willingly getting hit in the knee by a 90-mile-per-hour baseball. Albert Pujols can be seen in the video, and Blum said that Pujols was "egging on" Kay in the batter's box. Kay underwent these activities for financial compensation as part of a variety of dares.

Blum went on to describe Pujols's further involvement in this dangerous stunt. In the video showing Kay taking a fastball directly to the knee, "Pujols is visible, instructing Kay to 'Stand like this. Boom, take it like a man.'"

While there are several layers to this story, seeing Albert Pujols partake in horseplay this dangerous is a bit surprising. While the Los Angeles Angels have been a dysfunctional organization for well over a decade, one would have hoped that Albert would have risen above these childish activities and been a better role model on the team.

This shocking story doesn't indict Albert in any criminal behavior nor should it change how we see him as a person. However, seeing anything negative surrounding Pujols, particularly when it's connected to such an emotional situation like Tyler Skaggs's passing, is difficult for fans of the future Hall of Famer.