Abbott comes to town
by Jason Baird, edited by John Kennett,
Benjamin Evers, Justin Marr, Sheri Krotzer

Success and moving forward is about the ability to adapt, and to former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Abbott knows this first hand.

“Circumstances in life don’t have to define who we are,” Abbott said.
Abbott was at Central Michigan University’s Plachta Auditorium April 2nd to speak about what he believes it takes to succeed in life.

Abbott has a long history in sports. He threw four no-hitters for Flint Central High School, won 26 games at the University of Michigan, pitched for the gold medal in the Olympics and played for numerous professional baseball leagues.

This is an incredible feat for anyone, but Abbott accomplished all this without the full use of his right arm. Abbott was born without his right hand.

Throughout his presentation he referred to an acronym he developed: A-D-A-P-T; adjustability, determination, accountability, perseverance, and trust.

Abbott picked a 9-year-old Mount Pleasant child from the crowd to help him demonstrate his pitching style.

“What’s the best pitch in baseball?” Abbott asked the silent boy, “a strike,” Abbott joked.

He gave credit to the great people in his life that helped him adjust to his circumstances. His parents, he told listeners, were more interested in what you can take away from the game and less with the winning.

“I remember a time, when I threw six interceptions and lost a championship football game in high school,” Abbott said. “On the ride home my dad wanted to talk to me about humility and sportsmanship.”

He recalled the care his second grade teacher took in teaching him to tie his shoes.

Determination drove him to succeed. Abbott told of a Little League team that bunted six straight times against him to see if he could field the ball.

“Filter out the negativity,” Abbott said. “Never let someone else’s opinion define who you are.”

Accountability taught him playing went beyond winning and losing. He told the audience to make the most of what they’ve been given.

“To be honest, it was hard sometimes to visit fans because I was again confronted with the fact that I was different,” Abbott said.

He knows a-thing-or-two about perseverance. After being picked by the California Angels in the first round of the 1989 draft, he won only two games and lost eighteen.

After a second season of struggle he was released. Refusing to admit defeat, he pitched for three single-A teams, advanced to AA-ball and finally pitched well enough to draw attention and signed with the Chicago White Sox. In his second game back he pitched against the dominant Yankees and won.

The last element is having trust in yourself. He told a story about a game he pitched against the Yankees.

He walked the first batter of the game. Keeping his wits about him, he found himself pitching a no-hitter in the sixth inning, then the seventh and eighth.

Between innings his teammates began to leave him secluded-afraid to rattle him. This was when he needed to trust himself.

He battled over his anxiousness and found himself on the mound, watching a teammate catch a pop fly in the outfield and give him a professional no-hitter game.

“When things speed up, call on the things you know. If you find your own way, believe in that way and incredible things can happen,” Abbott said. “It goes so fast, cherish it.”