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Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs -- whose number was 45 -- tragically passed away at the age of 27. But the hashtag mourning him took an inevitable tangent.
The baseball world was in mourning on Tuesday morning -- but to some #RIP45 meant something completely different.
27-year-old Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died on Monday, prompting the hashtag with his jersey number to trend on Twitter as people paid their respects.
But the conversation quickly took a morbid turn when some users joked about how they thought the hashtag meant the 45th president had died instead.
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View StorySkaggs was found dead in his Texas hotel room around 2pm on Monday, just hours before his team were set to play the Texas Rangers.
The cause of death is yet to be revealed, although it has been narrowed down to an accident or natural causes. Police said they do not suspect foul play, and a spokesperson told the LA Times that suicide was not suspected, either.
While the majority of #RIP45 tweets were ones of condolences, several used it to express joy and then disappointment Donald Trump was not the subject.
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View Story"When you get your hopes up seeing #45 trending," one user joked. "I thought #RIP45 meant a miracle occurred," tweeted another. "I saw #RIP45 trending and for a moment thought God finally answered our prayers and got rid of trump," lamented a third.
Both supporters and non-supporters of the President rounded on the few making gags at the young pitcher's expense.
"#RIP45 is supposed to be used to mourn the loss of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Instead people are using as a joke that @realDonaldTrump has died. Has this country lost all its morals?" one scolded.
"#RIP45 is about the pitcher for the Angels who died, not about Trump. Let's not make a mockery of someone's death by inserting politics into it. There is a time and place for politics, honor the man who tragically died so young," added another.
"If you didn't know what this hashtag was prior to clicking on it and were hoping it was related to Trump, please keep that to yourself," chided a third. "People want to pay their respects to Tyler Skaggs, no one wants your politics here."
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