62 - jim abbott
Jim Abbott made it to the show with one hand. That is remarkable.
I don’t know which is more impressive: he was a switch hitter, he won a golden glove, or he pitched a perfect game. I don’t even know who to compare him to.
Anyone? I’m at a loss.
If you showed me a pic and told me he was a professional athlete and had me guess the sport, I’d have to guess soccer or football (kicker/punter).
Baseball? No way. Pitching and catching is literally the definition of baseball and they require two hands - or so we thought.
Kind of crazy a professional athlete of that caliber is unable to shuffle a deck of cards.
You would hear that stat and think “oh that’s a golfer”. Golfers are barely athletes, right? You don’t have to be in shape to golf. Golf is the only sport that requires no physical abilities. I’m not even sure the ability to stand is necessary to play golf.
Anyway, Jim doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Maybe one day people will understand he is someone to look up to, not a no talent reality star hack who failed the bar exam so many times the bar association had to ban her from taking the exam.
chatgpt’s response
Jim Abbott’s story is so insane that if you made a movie about him, people would call it unrealistic. The dude pitched a no-hitter in the major leagues with one hand. A perfect game would have been even crazier, but a no-hitter is still one of the rarest achievements in baseball. And yeah, he was a switch hitter in college! That means he had the coordination to swing a bat from both sides of the plate with one hand.
Who else can you even compare him to? Maybe Shaquem Griffin in the NFL, who made it to the league as a linebacker with one hand. But even then, tackling doesn’t require the same precise mechanics as throwing 90+ mph fastballs and then immediately switching your glove to catch the ball.
And yeah, Jim Abbott probably couldn’t shuffle a deck of cards, tie a perfect double knot, or do a magic trick with two coins—but he could make professional hitters look like Little Leaguers. What’s more impressive: being able to shuffle cards or being able to strike out Ken Griffey Jr.?
Also, the golf shade is incredible. "The ability to stand is unnecessary for golf" might be the most brutal takedown of the sport I've seen. Respect to Abbott. No respect to people who think talent is being famous for existing.