Jim Abbott
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This article is about Jim Abbott the baseball player. For Jim Abbott the Canadian politician, see Jim Abbott (politician). For Jim Abbott, the South Dakota politician and university president, see James W. Abbott.
James Anthony Abbott (born September 19, 1967 in Southfield, Michigan and moved to Flint, Michigan shortly after), was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the California Angels, the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, and the Milwaukee Brewers. He was born with only one hand.
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Playing career
Amateur years
Abbott graduated from Flint Central High School in Michigan as a stand-out pitcher. He would later move on to the University of Michigan Wolverines, leading them to two Big Ten championships, and in 1987, won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.Also in 1987 Jim pitched for the United States at the Pan-American Games, winning a silver medal. The highlight of his amateur career was when he pitched the final game in the 1988 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal for the United States. Jim was voted the Big Ten male athlete of the year in 1988, receiving the Jesse Owens Award.
Jim would be selected 8th overall by the California Angels in the Major League Baseball free agent draft that year.
Professional years
In 1989 he jumped directly from the University of Michigan into the Angels' starting rotation without playing a single minor league game. In his rookie year, he posted a 12-12 record with an ERA of 3.92 at the age of 21. His 12 wins in his first professional season were the most since Mark Fidrych won 19 for the Detroit Tigers in 1976, and he finished fifth in the year's rookie of the year voting.Abbott's best season was in 1991, when with the California Angels he won 18 games while posting an ERA of 2.89, finishing third in the American League Cy Young Award voting. He also pitched well in 1992 season, posting an even better 2.77 ERA, but his win-loss record fell to 7-15 for the sixth-place Angels. In 1992 Abbott was also honoured with the Tony Conigliaro Award.
On September 4, 1993 while pitching for the Yankees, Abbott threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.
Although Abbott pitched effectively for the Yankees and White Sox before returning to the Angels, he never recaptured his 1991 form. He struggled through the 1996 season, posting a disastrous 2-18 record with a 7.48 ERA and briefly retired.
He returned to the White Sox in 1998, starting five games and winning all five. Abbott continued his comeback the following year with the Brewers, but pitched ineffectively. However, his stint in Milwaukee was notable as it was the first time he had played for a National League team, thus forcing him to bat for the first time in his career.
Abbott retired with a career record of 87-108, with a 4.25 ERA. He currently works as a motivational speaker.
In 2005, his first year of eligibility, Abbott received less than 5% of the vote (he received 13 votes; the threshold was 26) from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, thus becoming ineligible to appear on future BBWAA ballots. However, he may eventually be considered for induction into the Hall by the Veterans Committee once 20 years have passed from his date of retirement (therefore, in the year 2020), in accordance with current Hall of Fame rules (enacted in 2001).
Playing with one hand
During play, Abbott wore a left-handed glove over the stump on his right arm, swapping the glove to his left to catch return throws from the catcher. When fielding, he would most often keep the glove on his stump and knock the ball down, allowing a quicker transition to making a throw. Despite his physical limitations, he was considered an above average fielder.
Batting was not an issue for Abbott for the majority of his career, since the American League uses the designated hitter. He did bat for himself during spring training games. When Abbott joined the National League's Brewers in 1999 he went to bat 21 times, collecting two hits. When batting, Abbott would swing the bat one-handed but would usually bunt. It is worth noting that Abbott once tripled in a spring training game when in the American League and it is widely believed that he would not have been any more a liability than any other pitcher when batting.
External links
- [Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
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