THE WARRIOR

Author

Matthew Garringer
July 27, 2023

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as Hawk Harrelson loved broadcasting.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a guy who defied all the odds, was continuously underestimated, and overcame every challenge life threw at him.

Whenever I’m feeling sorry for myself, I just think of Jim Abbott and immediately feel softer than Play-doh.

Most of us have probably seen the highlights from his miraculous no-hitter, but that was just one of many incredible moments for him.

Jim has basically spent his entire life overcoming obstacles and inspiring everyone around him.

He was born without a right hand.

At a young age, Jim was interested in playing sports, so his parents enrolled him in things they thought might be easy for him to play — like soccer.

But Jim wanted to play baseball.

He practiced for hours on end, throwing a rubber ball against a brick wall and working with his dad to develop his technique so that he could field his position adequately.

In little league, he was told that he probably wouldn’t make it to the next level, and they kept telling him that at pretty much every level all the way up into the big leagues.

Jim’s response to the haters was simple.

As a senior in High School, Jim hit seven bombs and dominated on the mound, posting a 0.76 ERA and averaging more than two strikeouts an inning.

The Blue Jays drafted him, but he turned it down to be a Wolverine at the University of Michigan.

Abbott continued to crush the competition, beating out guys like Ken Griffey Jr. and Jack McDowell for the Golden Spikes award in ‘87.

Then the next year, Jim won a Gold Medal with the US Olympic team in which he pitched a CG and got the W against Japan in the championship.

When he finally got to the big leagues in ‘89, he was polished on the mound and even more so with the media.

Baseball America ranked his first outing as the second most significant debut in MLB history — right behind Jackie Robinson.

He quickly proved that his presence on the team was not merely “a good story” for PR purposes.

Jim finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting, and Warren Spahn called him his hero.

"He may be the most remarkable individual I've ever known in baseball. Beside it all, he's just a red-blooded kid who's one of the guys in the clubhouse. It's been wearing at times. He's had to answer some of the dumbest, most undignified questions I've ever heard, but he's handled everything with dignity and grace. And he's one helluva pitcher."

Doug Rader, Angels Manager: 89-91

Abbott’s best season was definitely ‘91.

He was third in the Cy Young voting that year, but his team was terrible.

Then in ‘93 he went to New York, and things turned a little sour — especially when Owner George Steinbrenner publicly trashed him for doing too much charity work and visiting with disabled children too much on the road.

Apparently, “The Boss” thought he wasn’t giving enough of his attention to baseball.

Jim bounced around a bit towards the end of his career, playing for the White Sox, Angels again, and finally the Brewers.

Eventually, he started to lose velocity in his 30’s and his once 95 mph fastball dwindled to 85-90 mph.

Jim says it was too tough of an adjustment for him to go from power to finesse.

Either way, his legacy continues to live on through his epic accomplishments, and the awesome charity work he does.

LEGENDARY MERCH

As most of you have probably figured out by now, the name "Dead Legends" comes from this idea of finding baseball's forgotten stories and reviving them.

We love learning the history — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Honestly, we look at this newsletter as one EPIC story that covers all of the events and people that impacted our culture.

That's one thing we definitely have in common with Homage.

They've dedicated their entire brand to eclectic moments and personalities in sports, music, and popular culture.

Here’s a few of our personal favorites:

Quick Links:

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Legend has it that Bunny Fabrique was part of King Louis XVI’s lineage — that’s probably fake news though.

Although he only had 90 AB’s in the big leagues, Bunny had a long career playing on semipro and minor league teams.

He was known for the way he played the game: with hustle and integrity.

After baseball, Fabrique became a machinist.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites: