Legendary Baseball Pitcher Who Was Born Without a Right Hand--Jim Abbott

The Professionals Playbook

My guest today is Jim Abbott, a pitcher who played for 10 seasons in the Major Leagues. Despite being born with only one hand, he won the James Sullivan Award as the nation's best amateur athlete and then went on to win a gold medal in the Summer Olympics. He is one of only 8 players in the last 40 years to skip the minor leagues and make his debut in the Majors. His successful career is highlighted by a no-hitter he thew as a member of the New York Yankees.

Jim is a trailblazer who inspired me going up. In our conversation he talks about the electric feeling of taking a no-hitter into the 9th inning, his mental training, how he de-briefed his outings, and more. Note: the audio has some issues the first 10 minutes, but smoothes out after. Below are the show notes with associated timestamps:

• Pitching a No-Hitter--thinking and feeling throughout (min. 03:30)
• No mold to follow--did that empower or intimidate? (min. 10:30)
• Mindset growing up (min. 15:00)
• A moment that altered the trajectory of his life (min. 19:30)
• Winning a gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics (min. 25:30)
• Skipping the minor leagues (min. 28:30)
• His motivation (min. 31:15)
• Techniques to perform your best (min. 32:30)
• Mental Preparation (min. 34:00)
• The baseball debrief (min. 37:00)
• Biggest lesson for the next generation (min. 47:30)

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This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler
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