Why the Padres have signed a former pitcher annually since the 90s
Professional sports today are viewed by many as an amoral number-crunching force that treats young athletes as commodities.聽But don't tell that to former pitcher聽Matt LaChappa, who has come to know nothing but compassion from a professional sports franchise after his career came to a tragic and sudden end in 1996.聽
Mr. Lachappa was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1993 out of nearby聽El Capitan High School and was considered in the early years of his career聽the best pitcher in the team's minor league system. had a killer pick-off move, a fastball that ran into the mid-90's, and a diving curveball that could lock opposing batter' knees, according to the Orange County Register.聽
But LaChappa and the Padres had no idea how short his career as a professional pitcher would be. Tragically, during a warmup for Class A Rancho Cucumonga聽in 1996, he suffered what was later diagnosed as a serious heart attack that led him to need a wheelchair.聽
With a player unable to live up to his entry-level contract, the Padres could have gotten insurance to cover the life of LaChappa's deal. But the team was not going to abandon their player, and instead has opted to resign LaChappa every year since 1996 to his basic, entry-level contract.
The money has gone a long way in assisting LaChappa and his family living on the聽Barona Indian Reservation, the Register reported. Today's minor leaguers earn a for a five month season, according to Slate. But what has really made聽the difference for LaChappa, is the medical insurance he has access to 鈥� part of his contract with the Padres, according to the Orange County Register.
"It's our way of saying to Matt that you're a Padre for life," Ms. Oppenheimer told the Orange County Register. "When Larry Lucchino [the team's former president who now holds the same position with the Red Sox] was here, he said that's the way it should be. And as long as I'm here, that's the way it's going to stay."
It's easy to think of professional sports as a club of millionaire athletes playing for billionaire owners, but the humanity and compassion the San Diego Padres have shown one of their own is a testament to their character as an organization.聽
鈥淣owadays, everybody talks about the statistics in baseball, and how it has all become a numbers game,鈥� Eagle LaChappa, Matt's brother, USA Today. 鈥淏ut the Padres have been pretty special to him. They've said he'll be a Padre for the rest of his life, and they've allowed him to keep a certain level of care.鈥�
