Jim Abbott, former Major League Baseball Pitcher and Motivational Speaker
it’s the summer of 1985 a tranquil
evening in Flint Michigan a 17 year old
boy is pursuing his dream he wants to
become a major league pitcher but he’s
fighting the odds because he was born
with no right hand what he didn’t know
is that he was right in the opening
chapter on a legendary career this is 17
year old high school pitcher Jim he
threw four no-hitters as a senior at
Michigan’s Flint Central High
he struck out a hundred and forty eight
batters in 74 innings his ER a was 0.76
but unlike most major league prospects
Jim was born without a right hand to
compensate he shifts his glove over to
his left hand so he’s ready to feel for
him it’s second nature but have to turn
this foot right if you should be able to
balance yourself remotely just like this
if you were a young boy growing up in
Flint Michigan in the mid eighties you
dreamed of being able to pitch like Jim
a be if you were Jim Abbott you dreamed
of pitching at Michigan he was so
impressive to the coaching staff at
Michigan that Jim Abbott was given the
award of pitching their first spring
training game he had to prove himself
all over again but he was never consumed
by trying to convince the skeptics all
Jim had ever focused on was the fact
that he was fulfilling his dream of
pitching for Michigan they’re winning 26
games at Michigan he realized another
dream he was on the mound for the final
out of the 1988 Seoul Olympics
leading Team USA to a gold nut he also
became the first baseball player ever to
win the Sullivan Award as the nation’s
top amateur athlete in 1989 21 year-old
Jim Abbott goes straight from college to
the major league the California Angels
made him the eighth player selected in
the draft he immediately answered all
questions about his ability to field on
the mile
Jim Abbott Nathalie proves he could
handle major league hitters but by 1991
he finished third in the siyoung voting
by winning 18 games for the angel but
Jim Abbott’s greatest moment would come
in 1993 he’s a member of the New York
Yankees and Jim Abbott pitches a
no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians
the young man from Michigan would have
his crowning moment as a major league
pitcher
the kid from Michigan who never saw
himself as handicapped was now
celebrating one of the greatest moments
in Yankees history
