Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News

Former professional baseball player Jim Abbott speaks to students Wednesday evening in Warriner Hall's Plachta Auditorium. Having only one hand all his life, Abbott spoke mostly on adapting, how it helped him in his life and how everyone needs to find a way to make things work. [Click to enlarge]

Flint might not have the greatest reputation among most Michiganders.

But one-handed baseball pitcher Jim Abbott loves the city.

"You don't hear this enough, but Flint is a great town," Abbott said. "If you want to get involved, all you have to do is play sports."

Abbott, who played starting pitcher for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers from 1989 to 1998, spoke Wednesday at Warriner Hall's Plachta Auditorium as part of Program Board Week.

He shared advice on how to overcome adversity by using adjustability, determination, accountability, perseverance and trust - or, as he puts it, "adapt."

"We will all be challenged and need to have these things to survive," Abbott said. "Success is in our ability to adapt."

Just to play baseball, Abbott had develop his own one-handed pitching style, which he used while pitching at the University of Michigan, the 1988 Summer Olympics and the Major Leagues.

"I'll never forget my first day playing pro ball," he said. "A huge bench-clearing brawl broke out and players started beating the crap out of each other. Everything is different once you get to the major leagues."

But Abbott never stopped having determination.

"Determination is a quiet strength," he said. "It's the ability to filter out the creeping negatives that sink in your mind."

This is something he needed in 1996, which was a rough year for Abbott, he said, because the Angels decided to let him go.

"It's difficult taking your stuff out of the locker your last day, knowing there is somebody already on the field that replaced you," he said.

Continued...

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