San Diego Padres Continue to Do Right By Former Player

Chances are, you have never heard of the San Diego Padres former minor league pitcher Matt LaChappa. If you have, you may recall the tragic tale of how the former second round pick, while warming up in the bullpen to enter a game in 1995, suffered a heart attack. The promising 20 year old lefty saw his career tragically cut short.

While most teams would cut bait and move on, the Padres have done the opposite. In fact, they have continued to sign LaChappa to a minor league contract every season, and have done so for the past twenty years. The Padres have also stated that they will continue to do so for the rest of LaChappa’s life, meaning that, at some point, he could be the oldest player under contract with any team.

With these contracts, the Padres are able to help LaChappa get the medical attention he needs. LaCahppa is now confined to a wheelchair, and needs the health access that the Padres are allowing him to receive. For what is essentially pennies to the franchise, given their budget, they have been able to make certain that their former pitcher gets the care necessary.

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Baseball, and sports in general, have become a business. Teams obsess over statistics, looking for a slight edge. As fans, we look over each player, using those same numbers to determine whether or not a player is worth his roster spot. As injuries and ineffectiveness occur, players are released or removed from the lineup, as their livelihood can be taken away in the blink of an eye.

With the business aspect of sport, and the desire to win at virtually all costs, it is easy to forget about the human element. These players, who are dissected based on their numbers and studied under a statistical microscope, are human as well. Sometimes, as we live and die by our team’s successes and failures, and we decry those players who fail to perform to our expectations, we can forget this fact.

However, the San Diego Padres have not forgotten that their players are human. They prove that every year by signing Matt LaChappa to a minor league contract, helping to make certain that this former minor leaguer can get the medical attention he needs.

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