ON THIS DAY: One-handed Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott tosses no-hitter
Jim Abbott had just one fully functional hand, yet he carved out a 10-year major league career that included one of the greatest single-game achievements a pitcher can have: a no-hitter in 1993.
By
Dave Brown
•
2 min read
Jim Abbott's story already was well known by the time he took the mound for the New York Yankees on Sept. 4, 1993. The pitcher born with one hand had established himself as an Olympic gold medalist in college in 1988, and an All-Star with the Angels in 1991 before a trade brought him to the Bronx.
He came into his 27th start with a 4.31 ERA, and was coming off his worst outing of the season, having allowed seven runs and 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings against the same Cleveland Indians. The Yankees, while not quite the juggernaut they would become in subsequent seasons, were in the thick of the old AL East pennant race, just a game back of first-place Toronto. The Yanks needed a better game from Abbott, and boy, did he deliver:
Five years ago, Abbott summed up his feelings about that day, via MLive:
“I wish I had an incredible vocabulary to describe the elation I felt,” Abbott said. “The disbelief. To see the fans jumping up and down — the noise — to be in the center of all that with your teammates. And to share the moment with Matt Nokes, my catcher. Every sense in your body is at full speed. You’re just taking it all in.”
As many no-hitters are, it was a team effort, noted Indians manager Mike Hargrove, via the New York Times:
Although Abbott did a tremendous job of forcing infield grounders, he was also indebted to his teammates for their superb defense. The Indians made two errors to cost their starter, Bob Milacki, a pair of runs. The Yankees, by contrast, came up with every necessary play.
"They made five or six great plays to save a no-hitter," said Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove. "Boggs and Gallego made some great stops, and Williams tracked one down in the ninth that was hit about 390 feet. You've got to give them credit; they played a great game."
At third base, Wade Boggs brought the crowd to its feet with one out in the seventh inning when he dived to his left for a grounder by Cleveland's Albert Belle. With one out in the ninth, Bernie Williams, the fleet-footed center fielder, chased Felix Fermin's fly ball to the warning track, where he caught the ball in front of the New York bullpen.
Still, Abbott always was the first line of defense. And this was his day. Abbott's first career no-hitter didn't transform the Yankees into champions (they finished second), but it put him forever on a pedestal with Yankees fans, and further demonstrated the odds Abbott overcame just to compete as a professional. The sum total of his career statistics make Abbott appear to be an average pitcher. But Abbott had his seasons, and his moments, of greatess.
