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Biography[]
Born on September 19, 1967 in Flint, Michigan, Jim Abbott (James Anthony Abbott) played for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers over the course of his 10 year career. Abbott broke into the bigs on April 8, 1989 with the California Angels, and put up a 3.92 ERA in 181.1 innings pitched in 1989, his rookie year.
Jim went directly into the Angels' starting rotation without pitching in the Minor Leagues. In high school, he hit seven home runs and batted .427. On top of that, he had a 37.5 yards per punt average as a punter. He was the starting quarterback in the last three games in high school, and threw for six touchdowns and 600 yards in those three games.
In 1993, he pitched a no-hitter for the New York Yankees over the Cleveland Indians, but a week later, he was blasted by George Steinbrenner for not doing the job and questioned his courage. He also blamed Abbott's charity work for his poor performance. That tells me all I ever need to know about George Steinbrenner. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, and since they were in the National League, he became the first one handed batter in the major leagues since Pete Gray played for the St. Louis Browns over fifty years ago.
Various reasons have been given for his short career with him being unable to hide the ball from batters and runners one of the reasons and some even say he was bunted out of the majors but he says he lost velocity and couldn't make the conversion to a finesse pitcher. All I know is that he made up for his physical limitations by pitching with more heart and showed that a player with a serious handicap can play major league baseball.
Most people believe that Jim Abbott's best season was 1991, when he posted a 2.89 ERA, won 18 games and struck out 158 batters.
Statistics[]
Pitching Stats[]
| Year | Team | G | GS | W | L | ERA | K | R | ER | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | IB | WP | HBP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | CAL | A | 29 | 29 | 12 | 12 | 3.92 | 115 | 95 | 79 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 181.1 | 190 | 13 | 74 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
| 1990 | CAL | A | 33 | 33 | 10 | 14 | 4.51 | 105 | 116 | 106 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 211.2 | 246 | 16 | 72 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| 1991 | CAL | A | 34 | 34 | 18 | 11 | 2.89 | 158 | 85 | 78 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 243 | 222 | 14 | 73 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 1992 | CAL | A | 29 | 29 | 7 | 15 | 2.77 | 130 | 73 | 65 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 211 | 208 | 12 | 68 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 1993 | NYY | A | 32 | 32 | 11 | 14 | 4.37 | 95 | 115 | 104 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 214 | 221 | 22 | 73 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| 1994 | NYY | A | 24 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 4.55 | 90 | 88 | 81 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 160.1 | 167 | 24 | 64 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| 1995 | CHW | A | 17 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 3.36 | 45 | 50 | 42 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 112.1 | 116 | 10 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1995 | CAL | A | 13 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4.15 | 41 | 43 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 84.2 | 93 | 4 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1995 | TOT | A | 30 | 30 | 11 | 8 | 3.70 | 86 | 93 | 81 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 197 | 209 | 14 | 64 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1996 | CAL | A | 27 | 23 | 2 | 18 | 7.48 | 58 | 128 | 118 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 171 | 23 | 78 | 3 | 13 | 4 |
| 1998 | CHW | A | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4.55 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31.2 | 35 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1999 | MIL | N | 20 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 6.91 | 37 | 71 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 110 | 14 | 42 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Total | NL | 20 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 6.91 | 37 | 71 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 110 | 14 | 42 | 3 | 7 | 2 | |
| Total | AL | 243 | 239 | 85 | 100 | 4.12 | 851 | 809 | 728 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 1592 | 1669 | 140 | 578 | 27 | 46 | 30 | |
| Total | 263 | 254 | 87 | 108 | 4.25 | 888 | 880 | 791 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 1674 | 1779 | 154 | 620 | 30 | 53 | 32 |
Fielding Stats[]
| Year | Team | POS | G | GS | INN | PO | A | ERR | DP | TP | PB | SB | CS | PkO | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | CAL | A | P | 29 | 29 | 181.1 | 6 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 8 | 2 | .914 |
| 1990 | CAL | A | P | 33 | 33 | 211.2 | 8 | 36 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 1 | .978 |
| 1991 | CAL | A | P | 34 | 34 | 243 | 19 | 46 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 1 | .970 |
| 1992 | CAL | A | P | 29 | 29 | 211 | 11 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 1993 | NYY | A | P | 32 | 32 | 214 | 4 | 42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 1 | .979 |
| 1994 | NYY | A | P | 24 | 24 | 160.1 | 8 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 4 | .969 |
| 1995 | CHW | A | P | 17 | 17 | 112.1 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 1.000 |
| 1995 | CAL | A | P | 13 | 13 | 84.2 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1.000 |
| 1995 | TOT | A | P | 30 | 30 | 197 | 8 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1.000 |
| 1996 | CAL | A | P | 27 | 23 | 142 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 1.000 |
| 1998 | CHW | A | P | 5 | 5 | 31.2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 1999 | MIL | N | P | 20 | 15 | 82 | 3 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 6 | .963 |
| Total | P | 263 | 254 | 1674 | 72 | 300 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 19 | 153 | 78 | 25 | .976 |
Batting Stats[]
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | BB | SO | HBP | SH | SB | IBB | GDP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | CAL | A | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1990 | CAL | A | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | CAL | A | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | CAL | A | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993 | NYY | A | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994 | NYY | A | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | CHW | A | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | CAL | A | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | TOT | A | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | CAL | A | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | CHW | A | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | MIL | N | 20 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .095 | .095 | .095 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | NL | 20 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .095 | .095 | .095 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | AL | 243 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 263 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .095 | .095 | .095 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Transactions[]
- Selected by Toronto Blue Jays in the 36th round of the free-agent draft - did not sign (June 3, 1985).
- Selected by California Angels in the 1st round (8th pick overall) of the free-agent draft (June 1, 1988 - signed August 3, 1988).
- Traded by California Angels to New York Yankees in exchange for J.T. Snow, Jerry Nielsen and Russ Springer (December 6, 1992).
- Granted free agency (December 23, 1994).
- Signed by Chicago White Sox (April 8, 1995).
- Traded by Chicago White Sox with Tim Fortugno to California Angels in exchange for McKay Christensen, John Snyder, Andrew Lorraine and Bill Simas (July 27, 1995).
- Granted free agency (October 31, 1995).
- Signed by California Angels (January 9, 1996).
- Released by Anaheim Angels (March 31, 1997).
- Signed by Chicago White Sox (May 27, 1998).
- Granted free agency (November 5, 1998).
- Signed by Milwaukee Brewers (January 27, 1999).
- Released by Milwaukee Brewers (July 23, 1999).
Trivia[]
- Abbott was the first pitcher to defeat Team Cuba in 25 years.
- He was also one of only three pitchers during the 1980s to win his first professional game at the Major League level; the other two were Bobby Witt and Kevin Brown.