"It's brilliant, being depressed; you can behave as badly as you like. " -- Nick Hornby

I was born with a some-what rare birth defect called Poland Syndrome (pronounced Pole-on). this causes me to have one hand smaller than the other with webbed fingers (I have had three surgeries as a child to fix that), and only one pectorial muscle (chest). the disorder occurs in about 1 in 30-40 thousand  newborns, and is even rarer in my case because mine is on the left side of my body when it is usually on the right.
As a child this was a bit of a self-esteem issue for me. I  did get a little teased for it (kids can be so mean). i felt like i was the only  person in the world with this. of course that is not true but when you are a child that is in any way different you feel as if it is you against the world.
I also, am a huge baseball fan. i have been since i was a kid. and it was in baseball that i found a person who showed me that i wasn't the only person in the world with a birth defect, and that i could rise above it.
Jim Abbott was a pitcher in the late 80's into the late 90's. he Played for many different teams, mostly the California Angels (now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim but true baseball fans still call them by their real name) early in his career and a few years in the middle of his career and the New York Yankees for a couple years. he was a pretty good pither. He made it to a couple allstar games.
Jim Abbott was born with one hand. he made it to the major leagues as a pithcer with a birth defect he over came. Jim Abbott was my hero growing up. i followed his career, reading the sports section with my father to see if he had pithched the day before. i read biographies of him. i had posters of him. i even got his autograph at a game he played in Detroit on a Tigers schedule (wich is funny because he never played for the Tigers). When i met him i was in shock so much that i couldn't speak my father had to do the talking for me.I Lost the autograph about a year later and to this day wish i hadn't. as a child a cousin of my grandma who lived in California bought me an Angels hat with Abbott enbroidered on the back. he was my #1 hero growing up
 To me Jim Abbott proved that my little hand didn't mean anything. he showed me that if i wanted to i could be whatever i wanted no matter if i was like every other person or not.
For some reason while i was sitting here his name poped into my head. i googled his name. today he is retired from Baseball and is a motivational speaker.
Jim Abbott influenced my life in a way I'm sure would have made him proud. Thank you Mr. Abbott.