Ex-Yankee Abbott spreads message of Progress and perseverance

Peter Clarke
peter.clarke@dal.ca

Jim Abbott is a former Major League Baseball pitcher, most famous for pitching with a handicap.

Abbott was born with only one hand. He first came into the baseball spotlight when he pitched Team USA to a gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympic Games.

He followed that up with a 10-year career in the major leagues, pitching for the California Angels, the New York Yankees – for whom he threw a no-hitter in 1993 at Yankee Stadium – the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers.

He understands the difficulties of overcoming adversity to achieve something great, which made him a perfect speaker at this year’s Halifax Sports Celebrity Dinner, put on by the Progress Club of Halifax.

“I just believe it’s a matter of belief and creativity and determination,” said Abbott in an interview before last week’s event.

Abbott is now a professional motivational speaker.

“I’m involved with Boys and Girls clubs back home. I consider it more of a mentor role,” he said.

Abbott was happy to be in Halifax for the event.

“A good friend in New York City told me how wonderful it was,” he remarked, “I appreciate people like the Progress Club.”

The Progress Club has been putting on this event for 38 years.

Each year sports celebrities are invited to come for dinner and to give a speech. The guest speakers this year also included Paul Henderson of Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, former NHL players Theo Fleury and Dennis Hull and boxing legend Joe Frazier.

The dinner is a fundraiser for various causes such as the King’s Meadow Home, the Progress Centre for Early Intervention in Halifax and the Special Olympics.

Some of the residents of King’s Meadow Home of Windsor, a group home for mentally challenged people, attended the event and had lunch with the celebrity guests.Abbott sat and ate at with them.
Karen Lake, executive director of the home, accompanied six residents to the dinner as well as a lunch with guest speakers.

“He’s very down to earth,” said Lake, “He got up with one of the  residents and helped him get some cake. It was just really nice.

“It was certainly my favourite,” she said, “All the speakers were very inspirational.”

Steve Murphy, co-chair of the event, was pleased with the event this year. He said it ran very smoothly.

“I’ve been involved for 10 years and that was the best we’ve had,” he said.

Murphy was also pleased with the speakers this year.

“It was a good mix,” he said.

According to Murphy, Henderson and Fleury gave really good speeches and Hull was hilarious. Frazier and Abbott both received standing ovations after they spoke.

“Abbott’s speech was about adaptability and perseverity,” said Murphy.

The final numbers aren’t in yet, but Murphy estimates they will net around $100,000 this year. The money is raised through ticket sales for the event – a table costs about $1,250 – and the auctioning off of sport memorabilia.

Murphy said that this year’s hot ticket item was a signed Paul Henderson Team Canada jersey accompanied by a signed Russian hockey jersey. They went for $4,500.