Jim Abbott's Remarkable No-Hitter

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: On September 4, 1993, Jim Abbot of the New York Yankees pitches a no-hitter versus the Cleveland Indians.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: But what made this way more impressive than any other no-hitter pitched before this was Jim born with only one hand.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Proving that just because you are born or have a disability does not mean you cannot reach your dreams.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And today we're going to dive into how Jim Abbot got to this point and was able to make the majors so he could inspire a generation to reach further dreams.

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Today on Daily Sports History.

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Daily Sports History, I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive in this sports history every day.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And today's trivia question to listen out for is how many hits did Jim Abbot have in this career despite only having one hand?

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So Jim Abbot was born with just one hand. As his right hand didn't fully develop, but he had the rest of his arm and then right where the wrist is, there's nothing there.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Since it was underdeveloped, he just had to go through life with one hand. But his parents tried to make him as normal as possible.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And at an early age, Jim really wanted to play sports. Now naturally, his parents thought soccer would be a great sport form, and he didn't need the use of his hands to play.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: But Jim didn't really like soccer. He saw all the other kids playing baseball and that's what he wanted to do.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So he began working with his father on a technique where he would transition from throwing to using his glove and focused on two positions.

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Pitching and first base, because first base didn't need a lot of throwing and pitching could be focused on one hand at a time.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And developed a technique of switching his glove while he was pitching.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And at the age of 11, while playing on a little league team, he actually threw a no hitter in the first game he actually pitched.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And though he would have success at that level, many didn't think he would move on. But he can tattoo him to have success and he even made his high school team where he played first base and he was actually very good at hitting.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: He was a left handed hitter and would wrap his hand around the bat.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And was able to hit seven home runs and have a batting average of 427 as a senior.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And on the mound, he had a record of 10 and 3 with an ERA of 0.76.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So just based off his numbers, if you never saw who he was, you would want to draft him or recruit him for your team in college.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's exactly what happened as he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays at a high school in the 36th round and given a $50,000 bonus offer.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But he turned it down to play in his home state at the University of Michigan.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And he continued to develop as a pitcher and became Michigan's top pitcher and become Big Ten Conference Player of the Year.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And lead them into the College World Series tournament as well as making the US Olympic team in 1988 when he a gold medal.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And after his junior year of college, he actually was drafted with the number eight overall pick in the MLB draft by the look California Angels and given a $200,000 bonus in 1989.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: He actually joined the Los Angeles Angels starting rotation as a rookie and didn't play a single game in the minors.

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And he posted a 12 and 12 record with an ERA of 3.92.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: He continued to his success in 1991.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: He actually won 18 games, posting the fourth Los ERA in the L at 2.89 and finished third in the Sion voting.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And though he was having success with the Angels, he was traded to the New York Yankees to save some money.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is where in 1993, he would become immortalized and September 4th, 1993, where he was going against the Cleveland Indians.

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So the game is in Yankee Stadium in New York and their face and office is the Cleveland Indians who had a really good lineup in Kenny Lofton, Albert Bell and a young mani Ramirez.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, Albert was not overpowering them in terms of strikeouts but he was very effective with locating the ball and hitting ground balls and pop flies.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: But despite this, he also had five walks during the game, but his defense was able to support him throughout the Nohitter, including a key play where Wade Boggs was able to field a sharp grounder and was able to make the throw all the way from third to just beat out the runner.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And even though he was having a good game, it wasn't till the sixth inning that they started to talk about the possibility of a no hitter done by one handed pitcher.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Then in the ninth inning with two outs, Carlos Baraga was up to hit and he did what almost all the other hitters did hit a ground ball, which were fielded by the shortstop and thrown out at first, giving Jim Abbott.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: His key moment in his career, a no hitter where he allowed no hits had five walks and struck out only three, pitching only 119 pitches.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: In the crowd of 27,000 erupted and gave a standing ovation to Jim Abbott. Now this was the highlight of his career and really the peak.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: He played another season with the Yankees and went on to sign with the Chicago White Sox and then go on to play with the California Angels again, and after a year out of the sport come back in 1998 to play for the White Sox again.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And then was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers, who is his first in L team, which meant they didn't have the designated hitter and during his time with the Brewers he recorded two hits in 21 at bats.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It was the first one handed player to get a hit since the 1940s, but after the 1990 season where he won five games he would not be signed again by any other team. He was slowly retired from the league after 10 seasons in Major League Baseball.

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Now he had 87 wins and 108 losses by an ERA of 4.25 with 88 strikeouts. So he wasn't the most dominant pitcher of his day, but he was a quality pitcher and that moment where he had a no hitter was a huge moment.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It led to so many athletes with disabilities to feel confident in what they do and within what they had. And it put him on center stage where everyone could look at what he did at one moment, even though his career wasn't a Hall of Fame career.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't on all star, but he had success. And many of the major league players that played baseball were not all stars. We're not Hall of Famers, but they had great careers and they'd live a lead great life.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It was because after his career he went on to be a motivational speaker and wrote a book in 2012 called Imperfect, my improbable life which was an autobiography.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And he's used this to help motivate people with disabilities. And he said that during his career he would average at least one child, he would visit on every road trip who had a disability to help motivate them and be a guiding light for him.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And that is huge for every one of those kids and he touched more lives than many other baseball players ever have.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to thank you for listening today's Daily Sports History. I hope you feel motivated after hearing his story. It is a great story and if you liked it please tell a friend tell them to join you in becoming a sports historian and come back tomorrow for more daily sports history.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And did you catch the answer today's trivia question? How many hits to Jim Abbott have in his career and the answer is too. And the final year of his career with the Milwaukee Barriers.