A tragic episode in MLB history continued to make headlines on Thursday, when former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay was found guilty in the overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
The 12-person jury concluded that Kay was guilty of distributing the fentanyl and oxycodone that resulted in Skaggs choking on his own vomit in a Dallas-area hotel room just prior to a game between the Angels and the Texas Rangers in July 2019.
Kay, 47, faces a minimum 20-year sentence and a $1 million fine. He was set to be sentenced in June.
The verdict was met with an array of responses on social media, where users weighed in with tributes to Skaggs and offered their thoughts on drug use in baseball, the opioid epidemic, addiction, and the fentanyl crisis.
Here's what some users were saying on Thursday afternoon:
Everything -- every single thing -- about the Tyler Skaggs/Eric Kay case is an utter tragedy. Our society is not set up to deal with addiction and everything that spins out of it, be it personally, socially, legally, and everything else you can name. It's just heartbreaking.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) February 17, 2022
And yet the Sacklers run free. #TylerSkaggs #Sacklers #Opiods
— Kelly Kenneally (@KellyKenneally) February 17, 2022
https://t.co/1e7eRLZrni
How about instead of taking a hardline holier than thou stance regarding Tyler Skaggs and Eric Kay’s deeds, take time to reflect on the fact that opioids are ruining peoples’ lives by the minute in this country and maybe grasp an understanding that not everyone is perfect #RIP45
— THE RAMPIRE STRIKES BACK (@basedhaloquacks) February 17, 2022
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram




