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Matt LaChappa
American baseball player From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Matthew John "Matt" LaChappa (born June 29, 1975) is an American baseball pitcher who pitched in the San Diego Padres minor league system. LaChappa is known for being a "Padre for life", having signed a minor league contract with the team for nearly thirty years since suffering a heart attack during a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes game on April 6, 1996.[1][2] LaChappa currently resides with his family at the Barona Indian Reservation.[3]
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Baseball career
LaChappa was a second-round draft choice during the 1993 Major League Baseball draft from El Capitan High School.[4] He began his minor league career with the Arizona League Padres in 1993, moving to Class A Springfield Sultans in 1994, and finally Class A-Advanced Rancho Cucamonga Quakes the following year. He won 11 games for the Quakes.[5]
"Padre for life"
In 1996, while warming up in the bullpen to enter what would have been the first game of his season as a relief pitcher, LaChappa collapsed and suffered a heart attack.[6] The Quakes athletic trainer performed CPR on LaChappa for 20 minutes until he was taken to a local hospital. At the hospital, he suffered a second heart attack.[4] LaChappa survived, but suffered brain damage from the lack of oxygen and is mostly confined to a wheelchair and has difficulty moving and speaking. Since the incident, the Padres organization has signed him yearly to a basic Minor League contract so that he can maintain his health insurance. The Padres have also named a Little League field after him in Lakeside, California.[4] The Matt LaChappa Athletic Scholarship Foundation was also established to assist high school students to pay for their college education.[7]
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References
External links
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