Jim Abbott

Pitching in a Spring Training Game (http://www.baseballreliquary.org/images/ JimAbbott_50.jpg)

He may not have been the fastest or the winningest pitcher of all time, but he was one of the greats to me. His name is Jim Abbott and he is my hero. He posted a career record of 87-108, not the greatest record, but he did it with the use of only one hand.

Jim was born with a birth defect giving him the use of only his left hand. He was born on September 19th, 1967 in Flint, Michigan. He played high school baseball and his coach told him that he would never make it to the big leagues.

Later, he went and played college ball for the University of Michigan. While attending the University of Michigan, he represented the U.S. in the 1988 Olympic games. Right after his college career, he jumped directly to the California Angels' starting rotation without playing in a single minor league game, posting a 12-12 record with an E.R.A. of 3.92 his rookie season.

During his career, he pitched for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. While pitching for the Yankees, he threw his first and only no-hitter of his career against the Cleveland Indians on September 4th, 1993.

Since retiring, Abbott has become a motivational speaker and goes throughout the country, teaching kids that no matter what, you can do whatever it is that you want, as long as you try your hardest and don't let anything get in your way.