Matt LaChappa hasn't thrown a pitch professionally in 10 years. He is confined to a wheelchair, and constrained by the physical fallout from back-to-back heart attacks.Yet the Padres continue to pay him as if he were an active player. It might be the noblest thing they do.
"When he was drafted and he came into the office to sign, I've never seen such a troop of tribal people," Oppenheimer said. "I think he was the first full-blooded American Indian ever drafted."Oppenheimer assured LaChappa's parents then that they needn't worry about their teenage son because, "I'll take care of him." Three years later, when LaChappa was stricken in the bullpen in Rancho Cucamonga, Oppenheimer proved even better than her word.
Narrowly interpreting a vague promise by then-CEO Larry Lucchino that LaChappa would "always be a Padre," Oppenheimer kept the young player on the club payroll and placed pictures of him on her desk.
"He's my hero," she said yesterday. "He was always up. He had a good personality, a good sense of humor. He was cheerful. It made you feel good to be around him.
P.S.: We hate steroids. Get them out of baseball, thanks.
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