A Major League Baseball season lasts a long time.

From the first day of spring training in February to the final pitch of the World Series in late October (and sometimes even in early November), you can mark milestones by the march of a season.

I proposed to my wife the day graybeards Jamie Moyer and David Wells squared off.

I was married on the day Angels’ pitcher Jared Weaver threw a no-hitter — and lost.

I published a novel on the day Sean Rodriguez fought a Gatorade cooler in the Pirates’ dugout and earned a split decision.

And on the day the Angels’ pitchers Taylor Cole and Felix Pena combined to throw a no-hitter, my belief in a higher power in the universe was reaffirmed.

No other way to explain it.

It wasn’t just the 301st no-hitter thrown in Major League Baseball history.

This may have been the first no-hitter where the guy who pitch got the credit.

July 12, 2019 was all about Tyler Skaggs. This was his no-hitter.

Just 11 days earlier, Skaggs was found dead in a Southlake, Texas, hotel room.

The cause of death for the 27-year-old is still unknown.

It shook his Los Angeles Angels’ teammates, which include Seneca Valley graduate and catcher Kevan Smith.

The All-Star break broke up the mourning. When the Angels returned for their first home game July 12 — a day before what would have been Skaggs’ 28th birthday — the club honored the left-handed pitcher.

His mother threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The entire team wore his No. 45 jersey with his name on the back.

What happened during the game is one of the more amazing things to ever happen in sports.

The Angels scored seven runs in the first inning and 13 in the game.

Skaggs’ birthday was 7-13.

One of Skaggs’ closest friends on the team, Mike Trout, hit a 454-foot home run in that first inning against the Mariners.

No. 45 backward and forward.

And, of course, Cole and Pena combined for a no-hitter — the first combined no-hitter thrown in the state of California since ... wait for it ... July 13, 1991.

The very day Skaggs was born.

After the win, Angels’ players shed their Skaggs’ jerseys and placed them on the mound to honor their teammate and friend one last time on a surreal night.

I will always remember that night, as I’m sure millions of others will, too.

What the Angels did transcended sports in a remarkable way.

People always say when something like that happens that “he” was there.

I often scoffed at such a notion.

Not anymore.

Tyler Skaggs was there that night. He didn’t throw a pitch, but he was just as responsible for that no-hitter and that amazing night as anyone else.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.