Padres are a class organization

[Rebbiv]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on...cher-for-20th-straight-season?FTAG=YHF7e3228e

A very nice humane story.

 

[tomdalton22]

That is a great story. I'm sure there are a lot of great stories out there that never get heard. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Thumb]

A nice bit of humanity in an otherwise dog-eat-dog business.

 

[Rebbiv]

I am still wondering how the insurance part works. Do the Padres insurance pick that up?

 

[Rebbiv]

Found it.

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/showthread.php/116640-Padres-resign-Matt-Lachappa

This story always needs to be shared. Matt LaChappa's story deserves to be told every time the Padres officially resign him to a contract which they did last week. This June will mark 20 years since the club drafted him out of a San Diego county high school, the first Kumeyaay player drafted. While warming up before a game in High-A in 1995, he inexplicably suffered a massive stroke which left him paralyzed and permanently bound to a wheelchair. At the time, Padres CEO Larry Lucchino said that LaChappa would "always be a Padre," and the long-time administrative director of the club's farm system, Priscilla Oppenheimer, decided to take a literal interpretation and simply tender him a contract the following year. By continuing to keep him an official member of the organization, they've kept Matt covered by MLB's health insurance program and he is now fully vested in the retirement. If you watch the paper transactions of Minor League baseball during the summer, the Padres move him up and down to make roster space. I first learned about him and the Padres when Matt spent two weeks on Mobile's roster but never appeared in uniform back in 2004.

 

[Rebbiv]

Another great article of the same story from 2005:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lachappa-98759-says-padres.html

 

[Mitchrapp]

That's awesome. Complete awesome.

 

[tinselwolverine]

Are they going to cut him now that there is Obamacare?