The annual major league minimum salary is more than I'm likely to earn in any decade as an English teacher. So I like to see major leaguers use their money to help others. I'm ever prouder when the major leaguer in question is one of ours.
That status is felt most acutely in his hometown of Lincoln, Neb., where he is revered as a role model. An American Indian of modest roots, Chamberlain might as well be Johnny Appleseed or John Henry, a folk hero for children.
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Chamberlain asked Ehrlich [Joba's high school coach] and Dabbert, the principal, to pick a worthy student from a working family to accompany him to Disney World, where he will take part in a weekend promotion for ESPN.
The student they picked was a fifth-grade boy, Kristan Martin, who will meet Chamberlain with his parents, Jeremy and Jeni Mort; his brother, Peyton Mort; and his sister, Sage Mort. Jeremy Mort told Dabbert that he cried after learning of the trip.