SANTA ANA, Calif. \u2014 Angels superstar Mike Trout took the stand Tuesday in the wrongful death civil trial brought by the family of deceased former pitcher Tyler Skaggs \u2014 tearing up as he testified that he viewed Skaggs as a brother.<\/p>\n
Trout acknowledged that he became aware before Skaggs\u2019 death that then-Angels director of communications Eric Kay was using drugs, and offered to lend support for Kay to attend drug rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
Kay is serving a 22-year federal prison sentence for providing the fentanyl-laced pill that Skaggs ingested on July 1, 2019, which a jury found was a substantial factor in his death.<\/p>\n
Skaggs\u2019 family attorney Bill Haggerty questioned Trout regarding his relationship with Skaggs, his view of him as a player and whether he knew about Skaggs\u2019 drug use. He also asked Trout about his dynamic with Kay, and the \u201chorseplay\u201d dares that Trout paid Kay to participate in.<\/p>\n
Trout, wearing a suit and flanked by his attorney and Angels team security, said that he does not like speaking in public, and that he didn\u2019t want to testify. Trout retained his own counsel, not affiliated with the Angels, to represent him in this case. He was given access to a private room before his testimony, and during the break. Nearly all of his answers were just a \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno,\u201d unless he was otherwise prompted.<\/p>\n
He was questioned about, and admitted to, conducting dares in the clubhouse, some of which he said included then-teammates Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun. They involved Kay eating a popped pimple off Trout\u2019s back, taking a 90-MPH fastball to the leg, taking a football thrown by Calhoun off the head while wearing a Philadelphia Eagles helmet, eating a bug off the clubhouse floor and shaving his eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not proud of it,\u201d Trout said.<\/p>\n
Trout said those dares stopped when he was notified by clubhouse attendant Kris Constanti that the cash was being used to fuel Kay\u2019s drug habit. This conversation occurred in 2018, according to Constanti\u2019s deposition testimony.<\/p>\n
At that time, Trout said, he also stopped giving signed baseballs to Kay, unless he knew exactly where the ball was going. He also offered to support Kay\u2019s rehab, imploring him to think about his children.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018You have two boys at home,\u201d Trout testified he told Kay, \u201c\u2018and you have to get this right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two prior witnesses in this case \u2014 Angels ex-VP for communications Tim Mead and current traveling secretary Tom Taylor \u2014 were far more reserved in their characterizations of Kay\u2019s drug abuse.<\/p>\n