Jim Abbott Biography - The Abbott Switch, Into The Majors, Chronology, Down, But Not Out, Career Statistics
boy baseball glove father
1967-
American baseball player
With 95-mph fastballs, Jim Abbott would be considered a gifted pitcher by any standard. What made Abbott stand out during his amateur and professional career was the challenge he overcame to deliver his strikeouts. Abbott was born with a deformed right arm, and played baseball virtually one-handed.
A product of Flint, Michigan, Abbott was brought up by his father, Mike (a sales manager), and mother Kathy (a lawyer) to live independently. The Abbotts tried using a prosthetic device when Jim was very young, but the boy hated the artificial hand and learned to do without it. Abbott's parents encouraged their son to play soccer, a game in which the legs, not the arms, prevail. Jim, however, was enamored of baseball. His father taught the boy a move—it would become known as the Abbott switch—that would stay with the ballplayer through his career. When pitching, Abbott would balance his glove on his right wrist, where the arm ends. For fielding, the boy learned to quickly switch the glove to his strong left hand.
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To perfect his signature move, Abbott spent countless hours pitching against a brick wall and seamlessly transferring his glove to catch the ball. The boy was equally attentive to his studies, though, showing the motivation that would carry him into adulthood. He chose as his role model pitcher Nolan Ryan, a strikeout leader during the 1970s. Even when he entered Little League, Abbott never felt d…
Abbott finished his junior year at the University of Michigan by garnering honors including the Golden Spikes Award as outstanding amateur baseball player in the United States; and the Sullivan Memorial Trophy as America's outstanding amateur athlete. It was only a matter of time before the Major Leagues came calling. Abbott decided to forego his senior year in favor of a spot on the Califo…
"Baseball can be cruel," wrote Sporting News reporter Steve Marantz in 1997, "even to its most admirable player." Abbott took that year off to recoup and reenergize, then accepted a minor-league contract with the White Sox for the 1998 season. He endured half a season "riding buses around North Carolina," according to a Sports Illustrated article, "…
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User Comments
about 3 years ago
YOU ARE THE BEST PITCHER EVER*!