The Olympic gold medalist is being honored at the 2026 ESPY Awards
Credit: Otto Greule Jr/Getty; John Nacion/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Jim Abbott is a former MLB pitcher who was born without a right hand
- He spent 10 years in the major leagues and also won a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics
- In 2025, Abbott was the subject of a Peabody Award-winning ESPN documentary titled Southpaw: The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott
Jim Abbott is one of the most inspirational figures in baseball history.
The former MLB pitcher, who was born without a right hand, spent 10 years in the major leagues after getting drafted out of the University of Michigan in 1988. He won a gold medal that year with Team USA at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and threw a legendary no-hitter at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 4, 1993.
In June 2026, an ESPN documentary about Abbott, titled Southpaw: The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott, won a Peabody Award. Now, Abbott is set to receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2026 ESPY Awards on July 15 in recognition of a career that has inspired generations of athletes.
“Overcoming obstacles and pushing past traditional limitations on the mound was my way of showing what is possible when you refuse to give up,” Abbott said in a statement, per USA Today. “I hope it serves as a reminder to the next generation of athletes that our perceived limits do not define our potential.”
So, where is Jim Abbott now? Here’s everything to know about the pitcher’s life after he retired from professional baseball.
Abbott was born without a right hand
Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty
James Anthony Abbott was born on Sept. 19, 1967, in Flint, Mich., to parents Mike and Kathy Abbott.
He was born without a right hand and was interested in sports from an early age, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.
Though his parents initially tired to steer him toward soccer, he soon fell in love with baseball.
At age 11, Abbott threw a no-hitter in the first Little League game he pitched. He went on to play both baseball and football in high school.
Following graduation, the star was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. He turned down the offer to attend the University of Michigan, however.
At Michigan, Abbott went 26-8 and was named the 1988 Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, according to the university’s website. He also received the 1987 Golden Spikes Award and the 1988 Sullivan Award.
In 1988, Abbott was selected in the first round of the MLB draft by the Los Angeles Angels, who were then known as the California Angels, per the league’s website.
He posted a 12-12 record in his debut season. Abbott was traded to the New York Yankees ahead of the 1993 season. Abbott later returned to the Angels for two seasons starting in 1995.
He also played for the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, before retiring after the 1999 season with a career record of 87 wins and 108 losses.
He won Olympic gold in 1988
Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty
Before Abbott ever threw a pitch in professional baseball, he was already an Olympian.
Baseball was still an exhibition sport at the time, and the roster was made up almost entirely of amateur college players. In the final game, Abbott and his teammates secured the gold medal in a 5-3 win over Japan.
“To be on that mound to make the last pitch in that game was one of the great moments of my life,” Abbott told the University of Michigan in July 2016.
He continued, “It was one of those indescribable moments in life. You want time to stop, and you want to enjoy every breath and every single second.”
He pitched a no-hitter in 1993
Credit: MARK D. PHILLIPS/AFP via Getty
Abbott etched his name into baseball history on Sept. 4, 1993, when he pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Cleveland Indians) at Yankee Stadium.
He is the only pitcher to have recorded a no-hitter with one hand, according to MLB.com.
“You just can’t believe it. You can’t believe it’s you,” Abbott later said, per the website. “I can’t ever remember a greater feeling. It really is sort of a dream come true.”
The professional athlete added, I know that there’s a lot of people who have taken encouragement from that one game. There are a lot of kids out there who were born like me, and they look for something. Amazing things can happen.”
Abbott also recalled the aftermath of the historic moment during a September 2018 appearance on the Yahoo Sports MLB podcast.
“All the early edition of the newspapers were out on the corners,” he said. “People were buying newspapers and running across the street. Cars are honking and traffic is stopping. I wish everybody in the world could have that feeling for one night. To walk through Manhattan and receive that type of embrace. It’s sort of an amazing cherished memory.”
His life is the subject of an ESPN documentary
Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty
In 2025, Abbott was the subject of an ESPN documentary titled Southpaw: The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott. The doc traces the story of Abbott’s life and career, with a focus on his 1993 no-hitter.
In June 2026, it won a Peabody Award for its “deeply human look at what Jim Abbott means to baseball and beyond,” per the organization’s website.
“We call a lot of people heroes that frankly we probably shouldn’t,” Southpaw director Mike Farrell said during his acceptance speech. “But I would argue that there are very few athletes in the history of sports that are more deserving of that title than Mr. Jim Abbott.”
He is a motivational speaker and author
Credit: Alex Trautwig/MLB via Getty
Since retiring from professional baseball in 1999, Abbott has become a motivational speaker.
The former athlete partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) in 2008 as the spokesman for their PITCH (Proving Individuals with Talent Can Help) campaign.
He also co-wrote a memoir in 2013 with Tim Brown titled Imperfect: An Improbable Life.
“My career wasn’t perfect — it wasn’t Hall of Fame material,” Abbott told The Spun in December 2025. “But it sure opened a lot of doors for me.”
Read the full article here
