Jim loved sports. He could run, jump, and move with the best of them. Smart? You bet. Good-looking? Absolutely. But there was one thing that set Jim apart on the field: he was born without a right hand.
When Jim was born, what would you do if you were his father or mother? Would you try to protect him and cushion him from a mean world? Would your anxiety for him cause you to do everything you could to protect him from the ugliness that people could show? Would you try to shield him from the pain of certain failure? Many of us would be tempted to do just that.
But Jim had other ideas. He wanted to play baseball. Imagine: I’m sitting across from young Jim, having a heart-to-heart about his big dream.
Me: “How in the world, Jim, will you catch up all the balls that are hit back to you?”
Jim: “Not a problem. I’ll keep a glove stuck between my right arm and my chest. I’ll throw a pitch with my good hand. Then, while the ball is headed toward the plate, I’ll put the glove on my left hand, ready to catch anything that comes my way.”
Sounds impossible, right? Who would believe it? But Jim didn’t just believe it—he made it happen. He stuck with baseball, got better and better, and by the time he finished Little League, he was a standout. In high school, he was a star. The University of Michigan came calling with a baseball scholarship. He played, he hit, he excelled. And just to top it off, he graduated with a great education, too.
That wasn’t enough for Jim. He wanted to pitch in the Major Leagues. Jim was such a skilled prospect after graduation that he never pitched in the minor leagues. One of the major-league teams he pitched for was the famous New York Yankees. And he did well. Not only could he field, some baseball experts believed that Jim deserved to win the Gold Glove as the best fielding pitcher of them all. In his last four seasons, he never made an error! Have you ever tried to impress somebody by exaggerating your greatness, “I could do that one-handed”? Well, Jim Abbott did play four years in the field perfectly. And he did it one-handed.
The pinnacle of Jim’s career was the no-hitter he threw. That’s right. As a major league pitcher, Jim Abbott pitched a game in which no opposing hitter got a hit. (You can watch his last out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-11R0f7I0g&t=16s )
So here’s the question: What’s my excuse? What’s yours? Are we letting anything hold us back? Let’s commit to going beyond our limits, just as Jim did. Starting today, let’s challenge ourselves to turn barriers into strengths and pursue our ambitions with determination.
One of Jim Abbott’s favorite books is Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses. The book gave one of Jim’s favorite life quotes: “Those that have endured some misfortune will always be set apart but it is just that misfortune which is their gift and their strength.”
Jim Abbott turned misfortune into his greatest strength.
Dr. Mark Edge
The WorkEdge Company
Telephone: 903-245-7851
Email: workedgetexas@gmail.com
Website: www.workedgetexas.com
Author of Holy Chaos. To purchase the book, click here:
See and Hear more on Jim Abbott:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo91jnrdlGk,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whmg3IgpQvo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7QyhsJ8GUA
WorkEdge leverages AI as a resource. While this material was not written or generated by AI, the editing was informed by AI tools.