"Me thinks the "League" should retain 5% of all athletes paychecks and invest in a fixed annuity, which when the athlete reaches 59 1/2 they receive lifetime payments."
Pretty much already in place, given the MLB pension plan is among the best of any in America. Reardon played for over 14 years in the Major Leagues, so he would be fully vested in a plan that will pay him well over $100K per year at 59. Which makes the robbery even more strange. Unless of course there were a couple nasty divorces in there and some gold-digger took most of the money, which is a real possibility.
No - none of those things happened. They are an emotionally distraught family who lost a son almost 2 years ago. They are fine financially. But Jeff has been struggling with his son's death and has had a very tough time dealing with it.