The MLB Pitcher with One Hand

The MLB Pitcher with One Hand

he was Fidel Castro’s favorite player but his own owner George steinbrener hated him and at 21 years old he had imp pitched a single minor league baseball game yet here he is about to make his major league debut attendance at Angel Stadium this night doubled they all wanted to see Jim Abbott become the only pitcher in MLB history to play with one hand everyone wanted to know what would happen what if someone had a line Dr drive right at him how could he protect himself what if he got a runner in a pickle with his glove on his throwing hand couldn’t he just run around the bases forever what if his spot came up in the lineup was he even able to hold a bat and swing or would they just sacrifice the out what if someone charged the mound could he even protect himself and without a glove able to hide the ball what is stopping the opposite team from looking at his grips and knowing every single pitch that was coming abot made history this night but was he actually a major league pitcher or was this just a publicity stun and freak Show meant to drive up attendance because in reality what is stopping a team from going to the plate and having every single player bunt knowing Abbot with a glove on his throwing hand would have no way to stop it well a team actually tried that on September 4th 1993 Jim Abbott took the mount against the Cleveland Indians the lead off batter is Kenny Lofton a year before he had 44 bun singles with the bases empty the fourth most ever the Yankees defense knows Lofton is going to bunt this isn’t new to Abbot in a high school game an opposing manager realizing he could exploit a pitcher with one hand ordered his lead off batter to bunt he bunted for a single he then ordered every single batter on the team to bunt however Abbott had a system for that resting his glove on his non-throwing arm he would throw while doing a 360 spin of his glove quickly transferring his glove to his hand then somehow simultaneously transferring his glove to his armpit while the ball is transferred into his throwing ham and make the play attempting to switch a glove To His Hand by the time the ball got to the catcher Abbott had to come to terms that a line drive at him could kill him but he was quick enough for soft grounders and funds one year he got 46 Fielding opportunities and made zero errors he even got Gold Glove votes and in high school after giving up the leadoff bunt he proceeded to field and throw out seven batters in a row before the opposing manager decided that trick would not work on Jim Abbott Kenny Lofton made the same assessment he does not bun and instead gets walked in five pitches putting the best base dealer in ml be on first base in a game he needs to win just a week before the Daily News roasted Jim Abbott for not being up to speed they then said he needed to start winning or leave his own owner George Stein Berner was growing a massive disdain for Abbott saying Abbott the pitcher with one hand quote lacked courage Stein brener did however love the attention he was bringing the team he’d already been on Good Morning America was the flag carrier for the United States was even on an episode of boy needs world he won an award as the top amateur athlete in the country and got on Sports Center as a teenager even the NFL did a segment on him when they discovered him as a one-handed quarterback filling in for their starter Abott started his team’s last four games led the team to the state championship threw for over 6 100 yards and didn’t have a single fumble things you would think are impossible to do with one hand Abbott was amazing at he not only dominated on the mound he even took at bats he hit 427 and had seven home runs in his senior year of high school according to mariana rivera he witnessed Abbott hit multiple home runs in major league Ballpark and Abbott eventually did get opportunities to take actual at bats in actual MLB games but before we get to when Abbott eventually did get his chance to try to hit in MLB games he smoked three hits in a spring training including a triple his opportunities to hit in real games were rare but facing John Liber he not only got his first career hit it was a go-ahead RBI two weeks later he faced Liber again and once again hit a single this time driving in two runs Abbott designed his own hitting technique where he would wrap his left hand around the bat and the stub of his right arm essentially Swinging with one hand a technique so intriguing he was asked to Showcase it on a TV program before he even graduated high school Abbott’s story had put him in the National Spotlight for years but George Stein brener was tired of the Feelgood story he wanted on the field performance as well just 5 days earlier the Indians had wrecked him for seven runs in less than four Innings but after walking loften Abbott gets a quick double play Then quick retires the side on a fly out he Dodges disaster here but more danger is coming Albert Bell is one of the most intimidating players in baseball he once broke his own bat on a check swing without even hitting the ball he famously wrecked a second basem in Milwaukee one night and after almost getting hit by this pitch he pretends he doesn’t care just stands there so no one expects anything and then once everyone thinks Belle’s calm rushes the pitcher so he have a chance to beat him up with nobody in his way this matchup between Abbott and Bell raised a question what would happen if Abbott hit Bell and Bell charged the mound could Abbott defend himself with one hand well in fact this actually did happen to Abbott in a major league game he once nailed a player by the name of Gus poor who perceived it as payback from Abbott’s teammate getting drilled in the head earlier in the inning according to Abbott Paul began charging the mound pointing at his own right hand and screaming something in Spanish probably referencing Abbott’s lack of a right hand but before he reached Abbott he slowed down and was met by a wave of Abbott’s manager and teammates but against Albert Bell he wouldn’t be that lucky however Abbott makes him look silly and Strikes him out Manny Ramirez then comes to the plate he flies out to center shortly after Jim to comes to the plate and he also flies out to Center Abby gets through this incredibly stacked lineup a first time with zero damage and for George steinbrener that is a positive sign it was the domination he had heard about for years at the University of Michigan Abbott was the best amateur baseball player in the country winning the golden spikes award over Hall of Famer Ken griffy Jr then immediately became a national hero during this time America’s sworn communist enemy Cuba dominated international baseball claiming they had won 140 International games in a row by 1990 they had won 19 of the last 22 World Championships the three they didn’t win they didn’t even show up for Cuba had MLB talent but banned their players from playing in MLB so their best players were on their national team they were national heroes and trained all year for tournaments like this Team USA was made up of mostly college players they hadn’t beaten Cuba in 8 years they hadn’t beaten Cuba in Cuba in nearly 30 years and in 1987 with Jim Abbott they went to Cuba to play a fiveg game series over 50,000 Cubans attended each game even Fidel Castro went to these games GES Cuba used this as a chance to Showcase their superiority over the United States yet all 50,000 Cubans were obsessed with Jim Abbott Castro himself went out of his way to meet Abbott on the field and later even asked him for an autograph even though Abbott didn’t play in the first two games the Cuban newspapers wouldn’t stop writing about him so despite the us being their enemy when Abbot came out to start the thir third game all 50,000 fans gave him a standing ovation when he made a play on the field he got another Ovation and after allowing just one run in five innings Abbot left the game on top becoming the first US pitcher to beat Cuba in Cuba in 25 years now the us could use Abbot to Showcase their superiority over Cuba the story about the one-handed pitcher beating the Unstoppable Cubans was everywhere and a year later he was drafted and in a move that shocked everyone the Angels put him on the major league roster without having him spend a single inning in the minor leagues Abbott was just the 16th drafted player in history to skip the miners Al together Abbott was just 21 years old the seven players drafted ahead of him were all in the miners and his senior year ER was 3.3 32 on paper that didn’t exactly scream MLB ready Abbott already had Celebrity Status so leading up to his debut everybody was questioning whether he was a true Major League Talent or just way for the struggling angels to sell tickets and make money fast forward a little and George steinbrener was thinking that exact same thing after cruising through the lineup once Abbott again walked a leadoff guy and with the dangerous Manny Ramirez up next it looked like the outing could turn bad Ramirez destroyed a ball right at the short stop a double play then a fly out results in another quick inning Abbot is going into the sixth inning allowing zero hits to one of the best lineups in the league and this is what George Stein brener expected when he got Abbot like everybody else in America he watched Abbott’s debut and watched him silence everyone after questions on if he was good enough to even be an MLB he got fifth in Rookie of the Year voting then got even better with a 95 mph fast ball and an insane cutter he dominated put up a seven War season with an ER well below three throwing over 245 Innings finishing third in sa young voting that year at just 23 years old then followed that up with an equally dominating season defying All Odds the pitcher with one arm just so happened to also be one of the best pitchers in baseball and George Stein brener needed him a perfect combination of on the- field dominance and off the- field star power sein brener saw him as the perfect Yankee and in a blockbuster trade gave up three Major Leaguers including a top prospect to get Abbot but 9 months later as Abbot was taking a no hitter into the sixth inning that sentiment was no longer the sixth opened with a rocket off the bat of Jim to Abbott lucked out and it was caught he then walks the next batter and facing Kenny Lofton who dominates Abbott it looks like his impressive outing could turn upside down however Lofton hits a lazy flyball the left the next batter smokes another Ball but it is also caught Abbott is walking a tight rope but the no hitter is still intact and he desperately needs a good outing just 9 months after the trade the New York Times is already calling the Yankees trade a heist already casting Abbott as a failure his velocity is down his ra is nearly two runs higher than it was on the Angels Abbot is supposed to be the ace but with 11 losses he’s taking much of the blame for the team not being in a playoff spot he had already confronted reporter Jack curry in the clubhouse for describing him and his season a quote disappointment but unannounced to him his biggest public criticism hadn’t even happened yet and it was about to come from his own owner George steinbrener in the meantime Abbott had other things to worry about he is nine outs away from history after a quick out Albert Bell is back to the plate he hits a ball in the hole to Wade bogs off by this amazing play energizes the crowd it only takes Abbot one more pitch to get out of the inning and things are getting real the Yankees are putting in defensive Replacements up 40 their only concern is getting Abbott to history he Strikes Out Manny Ramirez he gets a routine ground out then another slick play sends Abbott to the ninth with no hits allowed he is three outs away the entire Stadium Abbott himself even his coaches are on the edge of their seats as the dangerous Danny Lofton comes to the plate and attempts a bunt and he bunts foul the fans don’t like that breaking every Unwritten rule of the book he tried to bunt during a no hitter against Jim Abbott with the defense back a good bunt without a doubt would have ended this no hitter but luckily it went foul Abbott eventually gets him to ground out for the first out the entire stadium is on their feet they all want Jim Abbott to make history but with just two outs remaining Felix mind drives one to Center Fly ball left center field long run Bernie Williams he’s there Bernie Williams catches it and with two outs in the ninth inning Abbot just needs one more out and the ground ball is short Bard he did it he did it Jim Abbot makes history it took 119 pitches he did it with only three strikeouts it was just the second Yankees no hitter in 30 years and undoubtedly the only one-handed no hitter in history but his owner was still upset and despite being on top of the world this game in many ways marks the end of Jim Abbott’s amazing career in September George Stein brener publicly called out the team and singled out Abbott specifically saying they lacked courage and this was a week after after the no hitter Abbott and the team only got worse after this he had an erra over six in his last five starts as the Yankees missed the playoffs Abbott’s drop off perplexed many including steinbrener who publicly speculated that charity maybe the reason he was pitching bad Abbot met with at least two or three kids per road trip but never on days he started his condition and success put him at high demand when it came to charity he says the Yankees organized a lot of it themselves and now they were the ones criticizing him for doing charity but other theories on his downfall surrounded his inability to hide the baseball without a glove to Shield the ball Abbott says it was easy for first base coaches or base runners to watch for his grip then signal to batters what pitch was coming to solve this he’d have to switch his grip on the ball mid delivery but doing so basically basically eliminated his change up because the change up grip is so obvious it was easy to spot it’s also a unique grip so changing it mid windup was nearly impossible the Yankees concerned with this designed a new glove specifically for Abbot with an extra 3 in of leather that could Shield the ball Abbott tried it out said it was uncomfortable and never used it in a game he pitched one more year in New York then left in free agency for a season his performance improved but at age 28 with 18 losses and an erra over seven something was clearly wrong without explanation or injury Abbot had lost nearly 10 mph on his fast ball before age 30 reportedly only reaching the mid 80s when he was sent to the miners for the first time at age 28 and no pitcher not even one as resilient as Jim Abbott can overcome such a steep velocity drop off at age 31 Abbott stepped away from MLB but not before reaching the top of Major League Baseball today he dedicates his life to charity and motivational speaking telling his own story which resonates with Millions to this day

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Edited By: Aidan.