Latest / Foul Territory / Jim Abbott talks ESPN doc, MLB All-Star miss, Inspiring the next gen

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Jim Abbott talks ESPN doc, MLB All-Star miss, Inspiring the next gen · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You know, one of the things I had trouble with
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: was hiding my pitches.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: You know, I couldn't put the ball on the glove
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: and hide it like Andy Pettitt did so famously.
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: The great Jim Abbott joins us on the show right
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: now and special time as ESPN E sixty is coming
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  Speaker 3: out with Southpaw, The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott
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  Speaker 3: this Sunday. You can watch it on ESPN. Jim, great
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: to have you on. And what can you tell us
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: about what we're going to expect to watch this coming weekend?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Uh, you know, it's been a whirlwind.
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  Speaker 2: I was at Yankee Stadium last night thrown out the
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  Speaker 2: first pitch, and yeah, I have a documentary coming out
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  Speaker 2: on ESPN Sunday night. It's you know, it's recaptured my
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: playing career, my playing days and and how I've been
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: went about things. But also it gets deep into some
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: of the kids and families that followed my career closely.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: You know, as you guys know, I was born missing
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: my right hand. I didn't play like everybody else. There
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: was a little bit of difference in the way I
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: went about things, and and they decided to do a
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: documentary about it turned out pretty good.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: I hope you guys like it.
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: I was talking to Tim Brown, the author of your
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: book and the author also of my book, so we
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  Speaker 4: have that connection. We also both have the same barber,
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: so that's a great connection, except except I don't beat
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  Speaker 4: Tim and golf, and I know you absolutely annihilate him
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  Speaker 4: in golf. So there's that.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: He's he's uh, he's great. He said, to remind you
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  Speaker 2: that my earned ron average is a Yankee is half
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  Speaker 2: of yours.
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  Speaker 4: It is, it is, and that's fine. That's why we
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: didn't put a graphic up on on the on the
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  Speaker 4: screen here because if it was closer than I would
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  Speaker 4: have put it up there. But my question to you
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  Speaker 4: is the kids, the kid that you alluded to in
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  Speaker 4: the dock, the kids that you were always and and
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: players see this all the time. I was just at
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  Speaker 4: a Red Sox game last night. Players come up to
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  Speaker 4: kids and it makes you know, it makes their day,
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  Speaker 4: It makes the kids' lives. And during your career, a
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  Speaker 4: lot of kids with you know the same thing that
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  Speaker 4: you have, you were talking to and you never got
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  Speaker 4: to talk to those kids who are now adults. How
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  Speaker 4: did that hit you? How did that hit you off screen?
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  Speaker 4: But also what we can expect when we see it
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  Speaker 4: on screen.
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  Speaker 2: Well, honestly, it's pretty emotional. I you know, I remember
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  Speaker 2: these encounters, whether it was you know, Chicago or Boston
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  Speaker 2: or New York or Texas, you know, kids, I never
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  Speaker 2: knew there were so many kids like me, you know,
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  Speaker 2: missing part of a hand, missing part of an arm
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  Speaker 2: with some sort of limb difference. And you know, you
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  Speaker 2: guys know it's hard to fashion a major league career.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: It takes everything you have right compete at that level.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: But before games and after games, kids started to show
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  Speaker 2: up in numbers that I never imagined. And it didn't
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  Speaker 2: take much, you know, it didn't take much to step
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  Speaker 2: outside and say hello. But this this documentary, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Southpaw does It went out and found some of these
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  Speaker 2: kids and what they're doing now and and what the things.
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  Speaker 1: They just didn't let the circumstances of their life become
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  Speaker 1: an excuse. And they're MMA fighters, their they're basketball players
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  Speaker 1: and doctors and lawyers, and it's just it's really inspiring.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: It was very emotional. It horror to answer your question.
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  Speaker 5: Jim, for people that don't know you're missing part of
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  Speaker 5: your hand. That's the whole thing. And you were born.
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  Speaker 5: You were born that you know, you've dealt with this
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  Speaker 5: your entire life, and you went. But the most amazing
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  Speaker 5: thing to me is, yes you play golf and yes
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  Speaker 5: you pitched, but you also got two hits in the
• 3:54
  Speaker 5: big leagues. That, to me is the biggest thing that
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  Speaker 5: I can't get over, is the fact that you went
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  Speaker 5: up there and Aer Krafts with two hands could barely
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: get two hits and twenty one at fast and you
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  Speaker 5: got two hits and twenty one at bats.
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  Speaker 1: That's so funny.
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  Speaker 5: Uh.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: I met Garrett Cole last night at the ballpark, and
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  Speaker 2: that's all he could talk about, was.
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  Speaker 1: Like, man, dude, you got two hits. I looked at
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  Speaker 1: that buck google. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I love to hit, but I fancied myself a pretty
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  Speaker 2: good hitter back in the day. But then they started
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  Speaker 2: throwing curveballs and I didn't wasn't so good anymore. But
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  Speaker 2: I love to swing the bat.
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  Speaker 5: You know.
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  Speaker 2: The funny coincidence about those two hits, they both came
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  Speaker 2: off of John Lieber. I was with the Brewers and
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  Speaker 2: he was with the Cubs, and I've never talked to
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  Speaker 2: him about it.
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  Speaker 1: But he got over it. He had a fine career.
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  Speaker 4: That's great, that's tremendous. Yes, And hitting was tough when
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  Speaker 4: they started throwing curveballs. So I don't need that.
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  Speaker 1: I don't.
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  Speaker 4: I don't need curveballs. That's why I quit. My question
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  Speaker 4: to you is you said in your book that you
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  Speaker 4: always wanted to be evaluated as a pitcher and not
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  Speaker 4: a pitcher with that was missing his one hand. You
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  Speaker 4: wanted to be evaluated. Can you tell us when you
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  Speaker 4: were first evaluated as a picture that was just a
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  Speaker 4: picture and not a picture with that was missing his
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  Speaker 4: one hand.
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  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of motivational words, a lot of
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  Speaker 2: flowery words were used to describe my play.
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  Speaker 3: You know.
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  Speaker 2: It was courageous, it was motivational, inspirational, and I didn't
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  Speaker 2: look at it as that as any I was. I
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  Speaker 2: was selfish man. I was determined. I wanted to do well.
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  Speaker 2: I wanted to stick around. I wanted to be in
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  Speaker 2: the big leagues.
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  Speaker 1: And but.
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  Speaker 2: When you get thrust in that environment and you start
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  Speaker 2: to learn that no quarter is given, right I was.
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  Speaker 2: There's a little clip out right today that Wade Bogg
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  Speaker 2: said when he first faced me, he said, I'm just
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  Speaker 2: going to hit the ball up the middle and go
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  Speaker 2: four for four, and I mean and he actually did it.
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  Speaker 2: He hit the ball straight up the middle, and I
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  Speaker 2: made the play and threw him out, and he said, Oh,
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  Speaker 2: I guess we have to take this guy seriously. So
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: you know, as you guys know, in the big leagues,
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  Speaker 2: they don't care how you get it done. They just
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  Speaker 2: care that you do get it done. And so I
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  Speaker 2: guess you know, it was in those experiences, in winning
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  Speaker 2: and losing and the toughness of that environment that I
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  Speaker 2: felt like I started to be, you know, rated for
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  Speaker 2: my for my effectiveness rather than you know, the oddity
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  Speaker 2: or the human interest story.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: Hey, let's do a little player spotlight thanks to Arena Club.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: AJ.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: Give me a player this season that you think is
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: underrated and you might want to try and grab his card.
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: James would. I don't know that he's underrated, but Washington
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: National's superstar in the making, and the first slab pack
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  Speaker 5: I ever opened had him in it, his rookie card,
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: and the value is only going to go up and
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: up and up. And I'm not gonna sell it KWI yet, Scott.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: I'm gonna hold on to it because after he continues
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: to hit big homers and put up the stats make
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  Speaker 5: All Star teams. It's going to get more expensive for
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: someone to buy for me.
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  Speaker 3: This is his first full season in the majors. Keep
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  Speaker 3: that in mind. I think he's underrated. He's on a
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  Speaker 3: Nationals team that's man putting enough attention.
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  Speaker 1: He might underrated.
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  Speaker 5: When he makes the All Star team this year, They're
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  Speaker 5: not going to be underrated.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: That helps.
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  Speaker 3: He's been intentionally walked four times in a game. Anyway,
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: If you want to try and find a wood rookie card,
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: go check out slab packs on Arena Club and right
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: now you can get twenty percent off your first slab pack.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: Or if you just want to go with a card purchase,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: go to Arena club dot com. Slash f oul, use
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: code foul. If you buy, sell, trade, collect, go for it.
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: Jim, you threw a no hitter in the big leagues?
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  Speaker 5: Did you tell after you threw that no hitter? Did
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  Speaker 5: you tell Wade Bogs? Like, dude, they didn't hit it
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  Speaker 5: in the middle. They tried, and I just no hit
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  Speaker 5: a big league team like that had to be the
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  Speaker 5: coolest thing ever. I've been part of no hitters in
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  Speaker 5: perfect games, but for what you went through and with
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: what you've dealt with, for you to throw a no
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  Speaker 5: hitter in the big leagues is gonna be one of
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  Speaker 5: the coolest moments ever.
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  Speaker 2: Well, thanks man, you know, and Wade, I tell you,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we became teammates on the Yankees, and he
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  Speaker 2: was incredible at third base that day. I you know,
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  Speaker 2: I threw one cutter after another, and if it wasn't
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  Speaker 2: a cutter, it was a slider. So the third basemen
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  Speaker 2: who were playing the day I pitched usually got a
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  Speaker 2: pretty good workout, and uh and Wade just came up
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  Speaker 2: with play after play. Actually had a no hitter, saving
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  Speaker 2: diving play in the seventh inning against Albert Bell, who
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: smashed one in the hole and Wade slid and caught
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  Speaker 2: it and threw them out by a step. And you know,
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: the moment of a no hitter, and and it's it's
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  Speaker 2: so special, it's so rare, that last out. There's something
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  Speaker 2: about the building of those twenty seven outs that when
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  Speaker 2: it happens, you just kind of can't believe it.
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  Speaker 1: It's it's going on, and.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it really, you know, the memories came flooding back
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  Speaker 2: last night, being up a Yankee stadium. Not the same stadium,
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: of course, but you know the pinstripes in New York
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  Speaker 2: and a lot of old friends up there.
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  Speaker 4: You make the big leagues if you play nowadays. I
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  Speaker 4: think that's a question that a lot of guys are
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  Speaker 4: always asked, like, Ah, this guy, you know, he couldn't
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  Speaker 4: have pitched in this era. This guy could have pitched
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  Speaker 4: in any era. Do you think you get the same
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  Speaker 4: shot that other kids are getting right now if you
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  Speaker 4: pitched in this day and age with the same with
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  Speaker 4: the same velocity, pitches, location, all that stuff.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: You know, that's a good question, Eric I. I the
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  Speaker 1: game has changed, right.
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  Speaker 2: I'd like to think that I would have trained in
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  Speaker 2: the same ways that the players trained.
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  Speaker 1: Now, and and you know, would have.
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  Speaker 2: Had some of the of the technical advantages that they
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  Speaker 2: that they take advantage of now. But I don't know,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I don't know if you don't throw ninety
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  Speaker 2: six miles an hour. And I threw in the low nineties,
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  Speaker 2: I through mid nineties a little bit when I was
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: young and and being scouted. But yeah, if you're not
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  Speaker 2: throwing ninety seven and maxing out velo and spin rates,
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  Speaker 2: got to be certain things and and whether that's a
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: good or bad thing for the game. And maybe that's
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: a discussion for a different time, But I do think
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  Speaker 2: kids who are coming up on the draft, and I
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: guess we're getting started Sunday night just before this documentary.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're evaluated to the nth degree.
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  Speaker 2: I agree, there's probably tougher scrutiny on them than there's
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  Speaker 2: ever been.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: Jim, where are we at with the technology nowadays? How
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: far is it advanced medically for someone in your situation?
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  Speaker 3: And I truly don't know. Is are there prosthetics and
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: stuff like that? And could we see somebody with the
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: prosthetic if it is available eventually pitching in a major
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: league game.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: That's a great question. I you know, one of the
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: things I had trouble with was hiding my pitches. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I couldn't put the ball on the glove and hide
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  Speaker 2: it like Andy Pettitt did so famously. I had to,
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  Speaker 2: you know, hide the ball behind the mit so the
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: space coach, the third base coach could tip off the
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: pitch if I wasn't, you know, I had to kind
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: of spin the ball in my hand until I set
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: my grip kind of too late for a hitter to
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: to make that adjustment. So, you know, an adaptive glove
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: that might help hide the pitches a little bit better
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: might be something that that could be different. I think
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: the advancement for kids born like me now is in
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: the medical field. You know, there's doctors, there's surgeons who
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: have figured out ways to reconstruct hands, you know, allowing
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: for a little bit mobility, a little bit more dexterity,
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: you know, posing fingers, and so there are there are
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: some pretty incredible medical advances that have happened, not necessarily
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: to help baseball, but to get through kindergarten and to
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: get through you know, life.
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: Jim, who do you like to watch now? That's what
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: I want to know. Who do you like to watch
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  Speaker 5: pitch now?
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Ah?
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm i uh Otani is amazing, you know,
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: I don't we say everything about him all the time,
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: and I don't think we say enough, And it's just
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: absolutely amazing. Knowing as you guys know, the importance of
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: routine in the game and preparation to be able to
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: go out and start a major league game and play
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: as a position player or a DH in between those
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: starts is is shocking. You know, it's it's it's unbelievable.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: We all had you know, the day one, you did this,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Day two, you did this, Day three, you did this,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: and by the fifth day you wanted to get back
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: up on the mound.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: And he doesn't have the advantage of any of that stuff.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: It's it's crazy, you know, I like, I really like
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: watching him. You know, kershaw I got his three thousand
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: strikeout the other night, and he's been such a classy
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: player in the Southern California for a long time. And
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: I live in southern California, so I'm a big admirer
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: of him. Two Dodgers. I can't believe I just named
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: two Dodgers. Being being of an angel background. They're gonna
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: kill me back there.
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: That's okay, that's okay. They'll be fine. They they'll they'll
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: forgive you. How are you not an All Star? We're
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: coming up to the All Star Game and we're talking
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: about snubs. How are you never an All Star? And
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: what year do you feel like?
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: It was?
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: Like, ah, man, I just like I just missed it.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Right, you know what's weird? Yeah, I got screwed over
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: ten years in a row. I couldn't believe I didn't.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: You know what Honestly, my career was a little different
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: because I want to eighteen games one year, but I
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: had a really really strong second half. I wanted like
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: eleven games in the second half of the season, and
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: the next year after that I was seven and fifteen,
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: but I had You know, if the metrics of today
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: were to be used, it would be viewed as a
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: different kind of season because I had I think the
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: third best E R A in the in the league
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: and I had a strong I felt like, of all
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: of the years that maybe I could have been considered
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: one of the best pitchers in the league, it was
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: that one, even though the team that I was on
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: didn't have a strong offense and we didn't win a
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: lot of games, but it was probably my best pitching
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: year that I had.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: That makes sense.
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: Your best year, by the way, as a as a
• 14:30
  Speaker 5: White Sox alumni like you, I just want to know
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: what how bad did Herm Schneider, the trainer hurt you
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: when you would go into the training room? How bad
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: did Herman try to hurt you and you would go
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: in there. He could dig pretty deep, didn't couldn't He'd
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: get in there. He was Hermie was the best and
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: and I love that guy came over and after the
• 14:55
  Speaker 5: strike and they needed a pitcher and Robin venture it
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: was a great friend of mine and Kirk mccaskell and
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: I joined up with them and they just raved about Hermie.
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: They said, you got to come to White Sox and
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: be with herb and uh, he's one of he's a
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: legendary trainer in.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: The American League. But you're right, he could hurt you.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: You pay, Jim, this was awesome. Thank you so much
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: for joining us. I know it's a busy schedule right
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: now promoting the doc, doing all kinds of appearances. We're
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: excited to watch it this weekend, like you mentioned, Sunday
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: night after the Draft, nine o'clock Eastern time on ESPN.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: It's about an hour and a half streaming afterward on
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: ESPN Plus. It's the Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: Southpaw part of ESPN E sixty. Thanks again, Jim, really
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: appreciate it. Great to see you.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Hey, you guys have a great show. I'd love to
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: come on again sometimes.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: That means a lot.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love the book. I love the book too,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: A great, great book with Timmy. Thank you.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: Thanks Jim,