Baseball Suc... No, Wait

This is an act of kindness in major league baseball that I simply won't forget.

 

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.

From SignOnSanDiego.com.  Found via Fark. 

 

Wait.  There's more.

 

"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.

Dear Ms. Oppenheimer:

 

Who knows what other things the San Deigo Padres might do, but today, Priscilla Oppenheimer, you win at life.

 

Warmest regards,

Humanity

P.S.:  We hate steroids.  Get them out of baseball, thanks.