Jim Abbott's Tale of Defying the Odds Remains One of the Game's Greats

Though he pitched his final game in 1999, Jim Abbott will forever remain an example of perseverance after staging a successful MLB career despite being born without a right hand.

Abbott, who is from Flint, Michigan, was mocked and taunted in schoolyards, but it was his skill at the game of baseball that helped him both fit in and keep his head held high.

“When recess came around, when I walked out of the classroom and walked out to the playground with the rest of the boys,” Abbott said in a recent interview with ESPN's Dan LeBatard. “We started playing flag football and we started playing baseball, and that was the venue where I fought back. That was my chance to prove myself, and that was my chance to fit in.”

Being told time and time again that he wouldn’t amount to anything in the baseball world only made Abbott work harder.

That hard work led to him being drafted in 1985 by the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead of making the leap from high school to the MLB, however, Abbott accepted a full scholarship to play at the University of Michigan. It was there, behind the success of a devastating cut fastball, where Abbott’s career took off.

On his way to a career 26-8 record and 3.03 ERA, Abbott led the Wolverines to two Big Ten titles. He won the Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete, he became the first American pitcher to beat Cuba in Cuba in 25 years, he was named to the All-American team and he threw a complete-game victory to help the U.S. grab a gold medal over Japan in the Seoul Olympics.

And that was all before his 21st birthday.

Abbott was then drafted by the California Angels as the eighth overall pick in the 1988 draft. He made his major league debut in 1989 without ever making a minor league appearance.

He came in fifth in Rookie of the Year voting that season and came in third in Cy Young voting two years later after posting 18 wins and a 2.89 ERA. Abbott was traded to the New York Yankees in 1993, and it was there that he entered the record books by throwing a no-hitter.

All of these achievements would have been remarkable for a player with every tool at his disposal, but Abbott did twice as much with half as much available to him.

Presented by MetLife. I Can Do This.