From Madej's Mind: Jim Abbott the Man
4/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
This is the first of a series of blogs that will be written by Associate Athletic Director Bruce Madej. Madej was a newspaper reporter for The Ann Arbor News and The Ypsilanti Press before joining the U-M Athletic Department in 1978.
Jim Abbott Video Interview
This past Saturday was the perfect day for a baseball game -- Michigan vs. Michigan State and sunny, 70-degree weather in the comfortable confines of the Wilpon Baseball Complex. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, MSU prevailed, but it wasn't the game everyone will recall. Instead, it will be remembered as the day a sellout crowd came to honor former Wolverine Jim Abbott, the most amazing athlete I have ever had the opportunity to break bread with -- at any level.
The media reports all told of a "humbled" Jim Abbott who spoke to the sellout crowd before the game as the Michigan family retired his number 31, just the fifth to receive that honor in the long history of Michigan baseball. What few people know though is how this individual has impacted -- and continues to impact -- people all over the country.
No doubt, he is humble. He believes he has been "over-honored" and "over-recognized." Returning to Ann Arbor on Friday to meet with the media and then his family and friends, Abbott wasn't looking to hob-knob with the big names or go to any fancy luncheon. He just wanted to soak in everything he remembered about Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.
A Torpedo sandwich and chocolate-mint milkshake from Pizza Bob's was all he wanted for lunch. He wanted to be with the people who helped him here at Michigan: his former head coach, Bud Middaugh; baseball PR guru Jim Schneider; the Michigan family; his high school coach; and the Wolverine fans. He wanted to be with his mother and father; he wanted his wife and daughters to share the moment.
When he spoke on Saturday afternoon prior to the start of the game, you could hear his voice crack. The stories of this one-handed pitcher, who fought all the odds to make it to U-M and then the major leagues, came back to life.
There was the evening before a U-M football game when Abbott and a few of his teammates helped sort out a problem with the football program. He never complained, spending the evening working with the sports information staff to sort through 20,000 programs.
There was our former quarterback coach, Scot Loeffler, showing highlights from Abbott's years as a high school quarterback at Flint Central. Our QBs were suffering from a case of "dropped exchange from center" and Loeffler showed our field generals how this man who had one hand never dropped an exchange from center in all his years at QB.
There was the time that Abbott beat Cuba in Havana for the gold medal in the Pan Am Games. He told us how he was taken to the back of the clubhouse with Cuban security, was told to sit down and then Fidel Castro came into the room to congratulate him on the win. When asked after the meeting who was more intimidating, Castro or Bo Schembechler, Abbott replied "it's about even." (By the way, Bo kidded Abbott about that and told him "I am more intimidating than Castro.")
When Abbott received a Man of the Year Achievement Award from the March of Dimes a few years back at the Detroit Athletic Club, he was more interested in a young man by the name of Joe Roberts. Joe was a goalie with one hand who played for a Triple A team in Detroit and was being recruited by DI schools. The young man's father was amazed that Abbott didn't want to talk about his exploits but instead wanted to know more about the young man and his future plans.
And there was the moment when some students at the CCRB on campus were asked by a one-handed individual if he could play basketball. They looked at each other and nodded "okay." Just minutes into the game, Abbott took a pass on the run and slammed it through the hoop.
Yes, there was the no-hitter in Yankee Stadium when he pitched for New York and some great moments in the pros and as an amateur, but you could tell his days and friends from Michigan are special.
With so many of the fans sporting the maize "Abbott 31" t-shirts, donated generously by Jim and Millie Irwin, it was clear the bulk of the crowd was there to honor Abbott. I'm not sure if he even watched the UM-MSU baseball game on Saturday. He must have signed an autograph for every single person who wanted one though. When asked if he wanted to stop, he replied "No." He said it with a humble smile.
Abbott now has a Ph.D. in front of his name. He travels the country speaking to individuals with disabilities. When he is honored, I don't think he even thinks about what he has accomplished. I believe he is reminded more so of all those who helped him along the way, and what he can do to provide that same encouragement and support to others.
Jim Abbott is not only the most amazing athlete I have seen at Michigan, he is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.
