Angels pitcher who unexpectedly passed away was a big Vikings fan

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, a known fan of the Minnesota Vikings, unexpectedly passed away at the team hotel on Monday.

The Minnesota Vikings lost a devoted fan this week as the Los Angeles Angels revealed that 27-year-old pitcher Tyler Skaggs unexpectedly passed away on Monday at the team hotel in Texas.

Skaggs was found, “unresponsive,” in his hotel room by local police during the afternoon. Police do not believe that his death was the result of any foul play, but their investigation into how he passed is still ongoing.

Even though Skaggs was raised in Southern California, he developed a fandom for the Vikings at a young age. He told Vikings.com in May that he chose to root for Minnesota when he was younger because there was no local NFL team in the area when he was growing up in Santa Monica, California.

Watching former Minnesota receiver Randy Moss catch passes from Daunte Culpepper is what really drew him into the team (as is the case for most Vikings fans his age).

Back in May, the Angels were in the Twin Cities to face off against the Twins and Skaggs got the opportunity to meet a number of current Vikings players including Kirk Cousins and Harrison Smith.

He was also in attendance to watch Minnesota take on the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2017 NFC Championship. Unfortunately, Skaggs had to sit through that disaster of a performance put on by the Vikings.

Selected out of high school in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft by Los Angeles, he went on to make his big league debut in August of 2012 as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

During his MLB career, Skaggs struck out a total of 476 opposing batters in 96 career starts on the mound for both the Diamondbacks and Angels.