Players I Collect: Jim Abbott

Last night I added a “Guys I (or my sons) Collect,” page to the blog, since I have gotten the question a few times now, “Hey, so other than your Star Sticker autos, what do you collect? Do you have a wantlist?”

Not really.

Like I say there, I’m not a particularly organized or thoughtful collector. There are some players, of course, that I gravitate to. So… why not feature them in posts?

First up: Jim Abbott.

I mentioned this back in my very first post. My first MLB game was a particularly special one. September 4, 1993 at Yankee Stadium. I was 10 years old, I loved baseball, and at my first trip to a big-league stadium, Jim Abbott no-hit the Cleveland Indians. It was incredible.

Not perfect mind you: I went with my friend’s family, not my father – who in hindsight probably wanted to share that experience with me. And my hosts’ behavior, incidentally, was awful; think the stereotypical drunken obnoxiousness easily associated with the fanbase. It made me uncomfortable and as a result I was probably more keyed into what was happening on the field than I might have been otherwise.

Anyways, Abbott squared off against a Cleveland Indians lineup that included Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez (making his second career start), and Jim Thome.

Things I remember clearly:

1. It was a gray day with a constant threat of rain. We were fearful we would make the 2 ½ hour trek from Upstate NY to the city for a rain out.
2. There were a lot of empty seats.
3. Abbott walked the first batter of the game – Kenny Lofton. I remember this because my host family for the day were immediately on his case.
4. Manny Ramirez, a local who homered twice in his MLB debut the night before, had a large following. I didn’t understand why so many Yankees fans cheered him.
5. Lofton tried to bunt in the ninth inning. Oh my goodness, that was not met favorably by the NYY fans.
6. The popcorn was stale.
7. After the second out of the ninth inning was recorded – on a deep drive to center – it was loud. It was exciting as anything I had experienced in my 10 years on this planet. I had to stand on my seat to see the final out and post-game celebration. When Abbott doffed his cap before heading to the clubhouse I fell while jumping up and down. It was a thrill.

Abbott was not dominant. He struck out only three. But he finished his 119-pitch effort, retiring Baerga on a grounder to short.

I haven’t mentioned it yet, though I assume if your reading a baseball card blog you – more likely than not – know Jim Abbott’s story. Abbott achieved success in collegiate, Olympic, and MLB success despite having been born without a right hand.

When preparing to pitch the ball, he’d rest his glove on his dominant forearm. After release, he would quickly slip his hand into the glove to field his position.
 Abbott pitched three years at Michigan (1985-1988), leading the Wolverines to two Big Ten Championships. He won the James E. Sullivan Award – the first baseball player to do so – given to the top amateur athlete in the U.S. Baseball was a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics and Abbott pitched the final game, winning an unofficial gold medal.

He was selected 8th overall by the Angels in the 1988 draft, and debuted in the California rotation in 1989 without ever playing a minor-league game. He went 12-12 with a 3.92 ERA and finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year Award voting.

Abbott broke out in 1991 with a 2.89 ERA over 243 innings. He posted an 18-11 record and finished third in the Cy Young Award voting. In ’92 he lowered his ERA to 2.77 but suffered a 7-15 win-loss record.

That offseason, the Angels traded him to the New York Yankees for a three-player package including top prospect J.T. Snow (a player, I saw many times play for the local Albany-Colonie Yankees). Abbott had a turbulent year, but endeared himself to a 10-year-old Yankees fan (and surely many others with his September outing in the Bronx.

The strike-shortened 1994 season, in which he went 9-8 with a 4.55 ERA was his last in pinstripes. He’d sign with Chicago White Sox before the ’95 season and was traded back to the Angels in July. The Angels squandered an 11-game division lead in August, losing a one-game playoff to the Mariners.

He struggled mightily in 1996 to the tune of a 7.48 ERA over 142 innings. He had a 2-18 record and briefly retired missing the ’97 season.

He’d return to the White Sox in 1998, winning each of his five starts. He signed with Milwaukee for ’99, but struggled with a 2-8 record and a 6.91 ERA.

Abbott retired. Over 10 years, he pitched to a 4.25 ERA and an 87-108. He also locked in an impressionable 10-year-old to a lifetime of baseball fanaticism with his magic in ’93.

That was a long write up. Apologies. But now you know why, the first player collection I feature is Jim Abbott.