Selfless Abbott Has Heart : Having Overcome Disability, He Inspires Others

Some fans figure Jim Abbott of the Angels is baseball’s winningest pitcher in a category other than wins and losses--heart.

“Jim will never know day to day how many people he touches,” said Tim Mead, the Angels’ assistant general manager and one of Abbott’s closest friends. “He’s as selfless an athlete as I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting.”

Abbott, who played for the Angels from 1989-92, came back to the team last week in a trade with the Chicago White Sox. Abbott, 27, and his wife, Dana Douty, live in nearby Newport Beach.

Born without a right hand, Abbott learned to pitch and catch with his left. Having overcome a disability himself, he has inspired thousands of others.

A chat with 12-year-old James Hurley on April 14, 1992, for example, thrilled the youngster for the rest of his life. That turned out to be five days. Already weak at the game in Oakland, the boy died of leukemia.

“You made James’ last outing a very special one, and something we shall remember forever,” his family wrote.

Then there was the time Abbott showed up for a game with disabled kids.

“When he got to the field, he introduced himself to each child, one by one,” recalled former league president Kim Weingarten. “Then he played baseball with all of them. He pitched a game. The smiles on those kids’ faces were just incredible. It was tremendously uplifting. Even I cried.

“You know, he was there because he wanted to be there. he gives back because he wants to give back, not because somebody told him to.”

Abbott’s only problem this week in his first start, a loss, for the Angels at Anaheim Stadium since returning to the team was the red-carpet treatment. He would have prefered a simple welcome mat.

“It’s already been great,” he said. “Everywhere I’ve gone people are saying, ‘Hello, welcome back.’ It really makes you feel good. I can’t ask for much more.”

And he doesn’t.

Abbott turned down an appearance on “The Tonight Show” and seemed more bewildered than flattered at the invitation.

“I don’t belong on there,” he said.

That fits, said his agent, Scott Boras.

Abbott has turned down more than 600 endorsement offers, as well as countless opportunities to write an autobiography or have a movie done of his life, Boras said. He has said no to perhaps $10 million or more in extra income, the agent said.

“He stands for something without waving a flag,” Boras said.

“I think Orange County feels like one of the county’s treasures has been returned,” said Cindy Eigenhuis of the child-help organization Amigos do los Ninos. “And it’s something that supersedes his pitching.”