NewYork.Yankees.MLB.com

By Len Hochberg / MLB.com

Jim Abbott's greatest day in the Major Leagues was his no-hitter at Yankee Stadium. (Mike Albans/AP)

Of course, the truth also is that Jim Abbott's legacy is set in stone, with or without a plaque in Cooperstown.

Abbott uses the line about the Hall of Fame, he says, as an entry point to detailing his hardships -- beginning with being born without a right hand -- and how he didn't let them stand in his way.

"I think part of the connection of my story is some of the struggle and adversity that I went through growing up and also in my career -- the way I learned to play, switching the glove on and off," says Abbott, in his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame. "You know, on the field I had times of misfortune where I pitched well and lost and also when I pitched poorly and lost. I had the year when I only won two games. There was a struggle there, trying to make a comeback. So when I speak, I like to use to those stories as much as the triumphs. And I think people relate to that. So that's what that quote alludes to."

Abbott mostly leaves it to others to note his triumphs, among them: in 1987, winning the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the United States' top amateur baseball player, and later that year becoming the first baseball player to win the Sullivan Award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete; in 1988, pitching the clinching game against Japan as the U.S. won its first Olympic gold medal in baseball; and in 1989, beginning a 10-year Major League career without ever pitching in the minors.

Abbott went quickly from the University of Michigan to the Seoul Olympics to the California Angels, a franchise with which he maintains a close connection to this day. He made his big league debut to much fanfare on April 8, 1989, facing Mark Langston and the Seattle Mariners.

"I remember the hype around poor Jim," says Langston. "As he was walking to the bullpen, there must've been a hundred people trailing him to the bullpen to go warm up. Your first big league game you have enough butterflies and enough things going on without the outside attention. He actually pitched very well and we ended up beating him, but I will never forget that."

Langston, also is in his first year of Cooperstown eligibility, became a teammate of Abbott's the next season after signing with the Angels as a free agent.

"I was just blown away about how he went about his business, and the work ethic that he had was something I totally believed in," he said. "I like to turn over all the stones and Jim was definitely one of those guys. When it's all said and done you're able to look in the mirror and go, 'Man, I gave everything I had.' And Jim is definitely one of those guys.

"Everybody gets amazed by what he was able to do. And then, as a teammate, after you see it for the third or fourth time, you don't even realize it."

As hard as it is to imagine Abbott playing baseball with one hand, how about other sports? In high school, he quarterbacked his team to the Michigan state championship game. "To this day, he's one of the best athletes I've ever been around," says Langston, now one of his closest friends. "We play golf together. Numerous times he's kicked my tail."

Abbott spent the first four years of his career with the Angels -- highlighted by an 18-11 record with a 2.89 ERA in 1991 -- then returned to them in 1995-96. And while they are the team he will forever be associated with, his greatest Major League moment came in between, pitching for the New York Yankees. On Sept. 4, 1993, he no-hit the Indians at Yankee Stadium.

Abbott's Resume Teams: Angels, Yankees, White Sox, Brewers Key stats: 87-108, 4.25 ERA, 6 shutouts, 1 no-hitter Awards: 1987 Golden Spikes Award, 1987 Sullivan Award, Third in 1991 AL Cy Young Award voting Best HOF vote Pct.: 1st year on the ballot Peers in Hall: None More stats and bio >

"I remember it being a kind of gray day, near the end of the season," Abbott says. "We were still in a pennant race. I remember the game being important and the fans being excited. That was when the Yankees were just starting their ascent back into baseball's elite teams.

"That day in particular I just remember feeling real focused, real clear-minded and pitching pretty well. I remember feeling real loose and lighthearted early in the game and, as it built up, the Yankee fans cheering every strike and booing every ball, my teammates moving a little bit away from me as each inning passed. And then, I remember my knees knocking and my heart thumping in that ninth inning."

As great as that game was for Abbott, and as vivid as his recollections are, "I'm equally as proud of winning a gold medal game in the Olympics in 1988. A very similar feeling in the ninth inning, being on the mound, your heart just racing."

Today, besides working as a motivational speaker, Abbott is close to the Angels ("my baseball family," he calls them). He attends their Spring Training and, living not far from the ballpark, helps out in the community relations department. In October, he threw out the first pitch at a playoff game against the Boston Red Sox. "That was great," he says. "To go in front of that many people again, it gets the blood flowing pretty quick."

Interestingly, as much as Abbott relished being in front of 40,000-plus screaming fans once more, he had a longtime fear of speaking in front of an audience of maybe a few hundred.

"It's different," he says. "Pitching is something that you've done so many times, it's something that you're so familiar with that you just kind of put it on autopilot and you're able to tune out the crowd. But with speaking, it's important to make a connection with the crowd and be a part of it."

And so while Abbott readily acknowledges he won't gain entry to the Hall of Fame, he's heartened that that his baseball life has served an even greater purpose than personal glory.

"I try to get out there and share some of the stories of my career, some of the ups and downs and the lessons that I've learned," Abbott says. "I've been really pleased with how some of the lessons that you learn in baseball have some real crossover appeal to people in schools and corporations and charities."

Len Hochberg is an editorial producer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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