I awoke this morning knowing exactly what I planned to write about.
In desperate need of clearing the decks of Event No. 21 from the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project, I was determined to write about my experience at the 120th Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, AK, from back in June.
And then I stepped on the treadmill and queued up the ESPN production of “Southpaw: The Life & Legacy of Jim Abbott.”
As its backdrop, the documentary focuses on Saturday afternoon, September 4, 1993, in the Bronx when Abbott – who, for the unfamiliar, was born without a right hand – pitched a no-hitter for the New York Yankees against the then-Cleveland Indians.
The overarching storyline, however, is about Jim Abbott‘s life and the impact he had on others … oh, so many others.
Suddenly I was engrossed in the story of which – hailing from the State of Michigan – I had more than passing familiarity. Heck, I had even met Jim when we were both freshmen in college. He at the University of Michigan and I across Washtenaw County at Eastern Michigan University. One of his Flint Central buddies known to most of us only as Kramer, lived down the hall from me in Phelps Hall. Jim paid Kramer a visit the night of March 21, 1986. I remember the date because we were in Kramer’s room watching the beginning of the Michigan State-Kansas men’s basketball regional semifinal that MSU ultimately lost in overtime due, in part, to a clock malfunction.
What I was unaware of, however, was the volume of communications Abbott received from the families of boys and girls – like him – who were disabled and how, in many ways, he became an almost reverential figure for those children and their parents about what was possible.
That extra burden he carried must have been significant, but to most on the outside world it didn’t show and, as he matured, he grew to understand it came with the territory of being one of the disabled world’s highest profile members.
The film also serves as a reminder to all of us that someone is always watching and we all have the opportunity to inspire, influence, and encourage others with our words and actions. If you ever needed a reminder of this, the film’s final 10-minutes drives this point home emphatically.
To say it was 90 minutes well spent would be an understatement and a disservice to Jim Abbott’s life (and the E60 production team). I encourage you to grab a handful of tissues and enjoy all the emotions.
